Shelter Tas is very excited to continue our schedule of targeted, capacity building training opportunities with Alcohol and Other Drugs Responding to Challenging Situations. This face2face training will be facilitated by Drug Education Network (DEN) Educator, Dave Reynolds.

Following on from our face to face Brief Interventions Masterclass training sessions, the Alcohol and Other Drugs Responding to Challenging Situations training session will provide you with the information and resources you need to engage with clients who are displaying challenging behaviours as a result of alcohol or other drug use.

About the Training

Escalated and challenging behaviours often seem to come from nowhere, and it can be difficult to know what is happening and how to respond in the moment.

Provide yourself and your team with the information and resources needed to engage with clients who are displaying challenging behaviours as a result of alcohol or other drug use.

The session is broken into two parts.

Part one will cover the following topics:

Language and Stigma
Why does drug use become a problem
Which substances are people getting help for
Drugs and mental health

Part two

The second part of the training consists of a dive into best practice based on a federal government commissioned resource called ‘Responding to challenging behaviours associated with psychostimulant use.’

Participants will work together in small groups as we systematically consider what can be done before, during and after such an incident to minimise risk and prevent further harm.

Each group will unpack what each organisation is doing well, what could be done better and what changes could be made.

Each group will share their work with the larger group to encourage cross fertilisation of ideas and potential solutions and will return to their organisations with a list of suggestions for how work practices could be enhanced.

Key topics covered in part two:

Responding to Challenging Situations

Before
During -Response strategies
After
In your workplace – developing practical applications

Suitable For:

Housing & homelessness professionals
Front line staff
Team Leaders
Program Coordinators
Program Managers
Managers

About the trainer:

Dave is a qualified Gestalt therapist, has a background working as a drug and alcohol counsellor, and is passionate about groupwork, personal growth and environmentalism. Dave has worked in private practice and was part of the outreach team at the Buttery Rehab in Northern NSW. In this role, Dave ran several groups, including DRUMBEAT groups with men from the Aboriginal community, AOD support groups, and court diversion psycho-educational groups. Dave moved to Tasmania eight years ago and worked in the homeless and mental health sectors before joining DEN as project coordinator for the wungana makuminya project. Following the successful completion of this project Dave joined the DEN team as an educator with a focus on workforce development. Dave continued to work until recently in the AOD sector as a DRUMBEAT facilitator with Holyoake Tasmania as well as developing and delivering groupwork at the Tasmanian Men’s Gathering.

Location:

South (Hobart).

This workshop will also be held in the North (Devonport) on Tuesday 25th March 2025.

Eligibility and Available Places

Places are subsidised and exclusively available for employees of eligible Shelter Tas member organisations, Specialist Homelessness Services and Community Housing Providers. Total numbers at each session will be strictly capped in order to ensure quality of training.

More information:

If you have any further questions, please email the Shelter Tas Administration and Projector Coordinator at: training@sheltertas.org.au

Alcohol and Other Drugs - Responding to Challenging Situations Training Hobart.