Name: Hey Warrior - Canberra
Start: 2025-05-08T09:00:00+10:00
End: 2025-05-08T16:00:00+10:00
Location: Gungahlin Lakes Club

Anxiety explained. Kids empowered!
Too many young people are being stifled by anxiety, and this number is on the rise. Fortunately, we are more equipped now than ever before to support them to live bravely and discover their full reach into the world, but the expanding impact of anxiety demands a new approach. This dynamic workshop will offer a fresh, innovative approach that pulls in many pieces missing from the way we’ve been responding to anxiety in children and adolescents. Far from being ‘another anxiety workshop’, this comprehensive approach will draw on neuroscience, evidence-based strategies, and highly respected therapeutic models to support practitioners in developing a fresh, impactful approach to working with anxiety in young people. We will explore anxiety from the ground up, developing a ‘roadmap’ for a therapeutic response to anxiety that will include key information, powerful strategies, and new responses to anxiety to effect immediate and long-term change.
We will explore:
the neuroscience of anxiety and how to use this therapeutically as a scaffold to support young people towards enduring courage and resilience;
how to change the relationship with anxiety, and why this is critical for children and their important adults;
how to recognise when anxiety is fuelling behaviour, and how to respond;
the popular behaviour management techniques that can make anxiety worse, and what to do instead;
co-existing concerns and look-alike conditions;
the different ways anxiety can manifest in young children and adolescents, and how to respond;
how anxiety can interfere with learning and performance, and how to shift anxiety out of the way;
making sense of separation anxiety, school anxiety, and school ‘refusal’ and how to respond effectively;
how to engage parents to be changemakers;
how loving parents might inadvertently feed anxiety and what to do instead - an actionable step-by-step response;
what to do when parents feel ‘stuck’ - moving past the impasse;
how to respond to anxiety in the moment to make way for calm and courage;
building the toolbox - practical strategies to diminish anxiety and build brave behaviour;
the four key responses to anxiety, and how to use this to inform a more effective response;
bringing it all together - a therapeutic roadmap for working with anxiety.
Presented by: Karen Young founded the popular website, Hey Sigmund, attracting millions of readers each year worldwide and is author of the best selling, "Hey Warrior" book for young people with anxiety. She is a regular contributor to Parenting Magazine in New Zealand, and can often be heard on Australian radio and TV programs such as The Project and the ABC. Her articles have been translated into a numerous languages and her work has been published internationally on The Huffington Post, The Good Men Project, The Mighty, and Yahoo Health. She is a sought-after international speaker selling out events from New York to Newcastle. She has authored five books including, "Dear You Love from Your Brain" and her latest "Ups and Downs", which helps children understand their feelings.
Audience: for mental health and education professionals at all levels & any professional that applies attachment theory and behavioural/developmental/neuro-science to their practice.
Mental Health Professionals: All mental health professionals including, but not limited to Clinical Counsellors, Psychologists, Psychotherapists, Psychiatrists, Social Workers, Nurses, Occupational Therapists, Hospice and Palliative Care Workers, Youth Workers, Mental Health Workers, Addiction Specialists, Marital & Family Therapists, Child Protection and Disability Workers, Guidance Officers, Speech and Language Therapists, Residential Care Workers and Foster Support Workers, Vocational Rehabilitation Consultants, General Practitioners, and all other mental health professionals looking to enhance their therapeutic skills.
Education Professionals: Professionals who work with children or youth including, but not limited to K–12 Teachers, Principals, School Counsellors, School Paraprofessionals and all other professionals who support behavioural challenges and complex learning needs.