• Charles Sturt launches new professional learning program supporting trauma-informed practice in early childhood and community settings
• The Holding Space program is free and combines research-based frameworks and hands-on strategies to promote emotional safety, healing and connection
• Workshops are hosted at Charles Sturt in Albury-Wodonga with content and facilitator notes available online

A new series of workshops offering real-world experience around inclusive early childhood education has launched at Charles Sturt University in Albury-Wodonga.

The Holding Space program is a free professional learning program supporting educators, allied health professionals, academics and community members to navigate the emotional journey of implementing trauma-informed practice in early childhood and community settings.

Senior Lecturer in the Charles Sturt School of Education Dr Sheena Elwick leads the program, which is designed and implemented by an interdisciplinary team with qualifications and experience in early childhood education, research, play therapy, special and inclusive education, counselling, physiotherapy, medical general practice and social work, each contributing vital insights and lived experience.

The Holding Space program provides a unique opportunity to explore the connections between stress, trauma and the brain, and to learn practical, accessible strategies for creating environments that promote regulation, healing and connection.

“This is about much more than early childhood education,” Dr Elwick said.

“At its heart, the Holding Space program is about building respectful and emotionally safe communities, starting with the adults.”

The 2025 schedule includes six evening workshops and a full-day symposium in October during Children’s Week.

Each event combines research-informed frameworks, such as the Neurosequential Model, with hands-on activities, guided reflection and practical tools.

With a few sessions having taken place so far, one participant who is an Educational Leader and Early Childhood Teacher at Ross Circuit Preschool, Ms Emma McQualter said she recommends the program to colleagues.

“It has provided me with opportunities to reflect on my practice and how we can best help and support children who have or are experiencing trauma,” Ms McQualter said.

“Some aspects I have really thought about include taking the time to connect with children throughout the day, which doesn't have to be a big amazing connection, but connecting in a way that acknowledges the child and lets them know that you see them, be it as simple as smiling at them or acknowledging what they have told you in a moment that you are busy.

“After attending the session on the Neurosequential model, I have reflected a lot and am trying to promote with colleagues the concept of ‘regulate, relate, reason’, remembering that we can't reason with a child who is disregulated and struggling in that moment.”

Ms McQualter’s takeaways are just a few of many learnings offered through the program, which is inspired by ‘Dadirri’, the deep listening practice gifted by Dr Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr Baumann, which honours the complexities of trauma and celebrates the wisdom of community.

All workshops are free to attend and are hosted at Charles Sturt in Albury-Wodonga, as well as online access to each workshop’s content and facilitator notes so it can be shared broadly.

“This is an invitation to join us, to feel seen and supported, to become part of a community that understands that working with trauma takes heart, and that healing can happen when we create spaces of respect, care and connection,” Dr Elwick said.

So far, sessions have covered the power of connection in brain development, the Neurosequential Model, and the impacts of stress on children and adults.

Upcoming workshops include:

• Tuesday 10 June – Regulating yourself and the room
• Tuesday 15 July – Educator strategies
• Tuesday 19 August – Family communication
• Saturday 18 October – Full-day Symposium (Children’s Week)

To register and access workshop materials, visit the website.