Workshop 2: Understanding Stress and Behaviours of Concern

This full-day practitioner workshop explores how cumulative stress, sensory overload and nervous-system dysregulation drive behaviours of concern. We look beyond single incidents to understand how individual stress, supporter stress, burnout and organisational pressure interact to increase risk and impair safe, compassionate responding. Through clear theory, video case examples and practice-based exercises, participants learn how to spot early signs of escalation, reduce environmental and relational stressors, and apply Low Arousal techniques that keep people safer and preserve quality of life.

In person location: Library at The Dock: 107 Victoria Harbour Promenade Docklands VIC 3008

Tram: ​Routes 11, 48

Train: ​Take any train to Southern Cross Station

Behaviours of concern are often framed as deliberate or oppositional, when they are more accurately understood as responses to cumulative stress, sensory overload, and nervous system dysregulation.

This workshop reframes behaviour as communication as not something to control or correct, but something to understand. Low Arousal is not about stepping back or lowering expectations; it is a deliberate, evidence-informed approach that reduces stress, prevents escalation, and protects dignity. The focus is on recognising what drives behaviour and responding in ways that support regulation rather than increase pressure.

Alongside this, the workshop addresses the realities of supporter stress, burnout, and organisational pressure. It highlights how calmer teams, clearer thinking, and more supportive systems lead to safer, more consistent outcomes. Through a mix of teaching, real-world examples, and practical application, you’ll build strategies you can use with confidence straight away.

Cutting through the myths

We challenge assumptions about intent, control, and “challenging behaviour,” replacing them with a stress-and-regulation lens that shifts how situations are understood and responded to.

Real-world scenarios

Explore how cumulative stress and dysregulation show up in everyday settings, including families, classrooms, and services, and how Low Arousal responses can reduce escalation and risk.

Practical strategies you can actually teach others

Learn simple, effective techniques around stance, voice, timing, pacing, and environment that reduce stimulation, shorten high-risk interactions, and support regulation without coercion.

Restrictive practice reduction

Understand how Low Arousal interrupts escalation cycles, strengthens proactive and reactive strategies, and supports least restrictive, person-centred approaches.

Building staff capability

See how individual practice connects to team culture, supervision, and organisational systems—and how reducing supporter stress improves consistency, safety, and outcomes.

What you’ll take away

• A clear understanding of cumulative stress and nervous system dysregulation as key drivers of behaviour

• The ability to recognise early signs of escalation in both the people you support and the teams around them

• Practical Low Arousal techniques, including stance, voice, timing, environment, and response sequencing

• Strategies to reduce supporter stress, prevent burnout, and create more sustainable ways of working

• Approaches to using respectful, non-pathologising language and embedding prevention-focused routines in everyday practice

• Simple, immediately usable changes that reduce risk while maintaining dignity and safety

• A full-day, practitioner-focused workshop combining:

• Short, practical teaching

• Real video case analysis

• Live demonstrations

• Small-group practice = Learn it → see it → try it.

You’ll also receive:

• Ready-to-use strategies and quick practice drills

• Curated reading + a visual Low Arousal summary

• Real-world video examples to bring it all together

• 60-day access to the recording

What you’ll take back to work or home

• A practical toolkit of Low Arousal micro-strategies to reduce escalation

• A simple way to recognise early stress signs and triggers

• Strategies to support teams, reduce burnout, and improve consistency

• Clear steps to make environments calmer and more supportive

• Ideas to turn strategies into everyday routines and team practices

Preparation:

No prior Low Arousal training needed. Just bring an open mind - and (if you’d like) a de-identified example from your practice to reflect on.

This workshop is one of three practitioner-focused workshops. Attend any single session for a high-value, stand-alone learning experience - orr complete all three for a coherent, in-depth practitioner pathway that blends live teaching, small-group practice and applied clinical consultancy.

Flexible, multi-modal learning

• Recorded access available for up to 60 days after each workshop, so you can review practical demonstrations and teaching at your own pace..

Bundle offer - save on the full pathway

• Includes attendance to Workshops 1-3

• Mix face-to-face and live online attendance across workshops to suit location and availability

• A significant saving compared with purchasing individual registrations

Professional development & accreditation (Practitioner Bundle total)
Participants who complete the full bundle may earn:

• 18 General BCBA CEUs

• 3 Ethics CEUs

• PLUS (optional): up to 2 ABAA PDUs in Cultural Diversity, Equality or Inclusion
  Certificates are issued per workshop.

Whether you need a focused update or a full practitioner pathway, this series gives you flexible access to robust, evidence-informed training — with practical tools, video exemplars and CEUs to support professional practice.

These workshops are what practitioners wish they had earlier

If you’ve ever walked away from a situation or session thinking:

• “That escalated faster than I expected…”

• “I know the theory, but what do I actually DO in that moment?”

• “There has to be a better way than this…”

• “I'm not feeling confident in what I'm doing..."

• "I'm not sure how to support this..."

You’re not alone. And this workshop is exactly for that gap.

Strengthen your practice, not just your knowledge

Theory is wonderful, but sometimes there’s a gap of applying what we ‘know’, so this focuses on:

• reduce escalation before it becomes a crisis

• support people in ways that protect dignity and safety

• feel confident in your decisions, not second-guessing yourself

Support your growth as a Behaviour Support Practitioner

This isn’t just a one-off training. It’s something that helps you:

• build real-world confidence

• strengthen your clinical reasoning

• stand out in more specialised roles

• gather meaningful evidence for your portfolio

• feel more confident writing and communicating strategies

We know time (and money) are real barriers

Most practitioners:

• don’t get enough time for deep learning

• are stretched across caseloads and supervision

• and find good training… expensive

That’s real. But this is exactly what your professional development funding is for.

👉 Use your PD budget with purpose

👉 Advocate for your organisation to support your attendance