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The Student Based Mental Health & Education Conference: High Risk, Dysregulated Kids and Indigenous Perspectives in Technology-Saturated World [Winnipeg, MB]

Live Streaming from Winnipeg, MB | December 2 - 4, 2026

Presented by Caroline Buzanko, Ph.D., R. Psych, Cynthia Wesley-Esquimaux, Ph.D. and Tracy Whittaker-Taggart, M.A.

Sponsored by Sunshine Coast Health Centre & Georgia Strait Women's Clinic

Up To 18 Hours  |   Pre-approved for CEU’s

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Description

LIVE STREAM: December 2 – 4, 2026 from  8:30am – 4:00pm (Winnipeg, MB) Please adjust your start time according to your specific time zone. 

ON-DEMAND: Recorded footage & course content (certificate, videos, quiz) will be available until January 11, 2027. Please allow 3 – 10 business days for footage to be processed. Extensions cannot be granted under any circumstances.

Day One | December 2, 2026

Emotional Regulation: Understanding Triggers and Responding to Behaviours Across Educational and Clinical Settings
Presented by Tracy Whittaker-Taggart, M.A.

8:30am – 4:00pm   December 2, 2026

Children and youth experience the world in different ways, and those differences influence how they respond to stress, relationships, learning, and everyday challenges. Whether you are a teacher, counsellor, psychologist, therapist, educational assistant, administrator, or another helping professional, understanding emotional regulation is essential to supporting children and youth effectively.

Through a psychological and developmental lens, this workshop explores the factors that influence emotional regulation and the relationship between triggers and behaviour. Together, we’ll examine an important question: What is this behaviour communicating, and what does this child or youth need right now? Participants will be introduced to evidence-informed strategies and frameworks for understanding and responding to behaviour, while also considering how our own experiences, assumptions, and reactions can shape interactions. Throughout the session, there will be opportunities to share experiences, discuss challenges, and collaboratively generate practical ideas and strategies that can be applied immediately in educational, clinical, and community settings.

This workshop emphasizes creating environments where children feel safe, connected, and ready to learn. Participants will leave with practical tools and strategies that can be implemented immediately to support children with a wide range of emotional and behavioural needs.

Day Two | December 3, 2026

Working with Children and Youth who are High-Risk, Marginalized and Engage in Self-Harming Behaviour
Presented by Caroline Buzanko, Ph.D., R. Psych

8:30am – 4:00pm   December 3, 2026

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION

For anyone who know that “safety contracts” don’t work and want to know what does. Self-harm among youth isn’t rising because young people are more fragile. It’s rising because the conditions they’re navigating create psychological states where harming one’s own body makes functional sense. This intensive 6-hour workshop is designed for anyone who work with the youth carrying the heaviest burdens: those at the intersection of marginalization, trauma, and self-injury.

You’ll move beyond risk management checklists to understand the why beneath the behaviour. Drawing on the established theories and evidence-based interventions for self-harm, this training provides the clinical precision needed when the stakes are highest.

This workshop addresses the reality that therapy fails when it replicates the same power dynamics that harm youth in the first place. You’ll learn how to structure engagement that honours adolescent autonomy, conduct chain analyses that reveal intervention points invisible in standard assessments, and teach physiological regulation skills that work when cognitive strategies fail. We’ll tackle the specific dialectical dilemmas of adolescent treatment: how to involve parents without breaking confidentiality, how to validate pain without reinforcing dysfunction, and how to adapt evidence-based protocols for youth who experience standard therapeutic language as minimizing and unhelpful.

You’ll also confront the parts of this work that textbooks skip: how to stay regulated when a 14-year-old shows you fresh burns, how to respond when a family’s exhaustion manifests as rage, and how to maintain therapeutic boundaries while practicing the “moral courage” required to witness historical trauma.

This workshop is key to develop enough technical skill and relational capacity that young people choose to stay alive long enough to discover they want to.

Day Three | December 4, 2026

Reclaiming Childhood and Adolescence in a Technology-Saturated World: Indigenous Perspectives on Development, Connection, Community, and Resilience
Presented by Cynthia Wesley-Esquimaux, Ph.D.

8:30am – 4:00pm   December 4, 2026

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION

Children today are growing up in a rapidly changing world where technology, artificial intelligence, social media, and digital entertainment have become central parts of daily life. While these advancements offer many opportunities, they have also raised important questions about their impact on child development, social connection, emotional well-being, and overall health.

Many children now spend significantly less time outdoors, have fewer opportunities for face-to-face social interaction, and are increasingly exposed to online influences, violence, and digital content that may shape their perceptions of themselves and the world around them. Families, educators, and communities are witnessing growing concerns related to social isolation, emotional dysregulation, attention difficulties, anxiety, and challenges in developing empathy, compassion, and meaningful relationships.

This workshop will explore the influence of technology, artificial intelligence, social media, and violence on the healthy development of children and youth. Participants will examine whether modern technology contributes to impaired neurodevelopment and how increasing screen use may affect emotional, cognitive, social, and relational development.

Drawing upon Indigenous perspectives, participants will explore the importance of connection, compassion, empathy, community, culture, and relationships in supporting healthy development. The workshop will highlight the value of land-based learning and experiences in nature as important protective factors that promote resilience, belonging, identity, emotional well-being, and healthy growth.

Participants will be encouraged to critically examine the role technology plays in children’s lives while exploring practical ways to restore balance through relationships, community engagement, cultural connection, outdoor experiences, and opportunities for meaningful human interaction.

Through discussion, reflection, storytelling, and shared learning, participants will gain a deeper understanding of how Indigenous teachings and community-centered approaches can help support children and youth in an increasingly digital world.

Education and Clinical Professionals: All education and mental health or healthcare professionals who work with children or youth including, but not limited to K–12 Classroom Teachers, School Counsellors, Learning Assistance/Resource Teachers, School Administrators, School Paraprofessionals including Special Education Assistants, Classroom Assistants and Childcare Workers • All other professionals who support behavioural challenges and complex learning needs including but not limited to: Nurses, Social Workers, Psychologists, Clinical Counsellors, Family Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech Language Pathologists, Addiction Counsellors, Youth Workers, Mental Health Workers, Probation Officers and Community Police Officers.

Caroline Buzanko, Ph.D., R. Psych, is a psychologist. Mother. Professor. International Speaker. Yoda of Anxiety. ADHD Superhero. And Changer of Lives. With nearly three decades of experience, she is a recognized expert in resilience and the social, emotional, and behavioural well-being of children and teens. In 2024, Dr. Caroline was honoured as Alberta’s Psychologist of the Year for her exceptional contributions to the field.

Known for her dynamic, engaging style, Dr. Caroline has a knack for simplifying complex challenges and equipping professionals with practical tools that make a real difference. Her workshops go beyond theory, providing strategies that educators, caregivers, and mental health professionals can use immediately to support children and teens facing any challenge.

Through her work at Koru Family Psychology and research at Athabasca University, Dr. Caroline’s mission is clear: to help every child unlock their potential, build confidence, and embrace resilience. When you train with Dr. Caroline, expect to be inspired, empowered, and ready to create a world where everyone thrives.

Cynthia Wesley-Esquimaux, Ph.D. served as Vice Provost for Indigenous Initiatives at Lakehead University for three years. Effective September 2016 she was appointed as the 1st Indigenous Chair for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada for Lakehead University and continues to develop pathways forward to reconciliation across Canada. Cynthia was inducted as a “Honourary Witness” by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada in 2014, and is the Chair of the Governing Circle for the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation at the University of Manitoba.

Cynthia was the inaugural Nexen Chair for Indigenous Leadership at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity where she remains a faculty member and is currently the Interim Director for the Indigenous Leadership Program. She is also Chair of the Teach for Canada non-profit which recruits teachers for remote First Nation schools in Ontario and Manitoba.

Cynthia is a member and resident of the Chippewa of Georgina Island First Nation in Ontario and has dedicated her life to building bridges of understanding. She sees endless merit in bringing people from diverse cultures, ages, and backgrounds together to engage in practical dialogue and applied research initiatives. She is deeply committed to public education and offers as many as 150 key notes, workshops, and training sessions annually to a variety of groups, organizations and institutions. She teaches on historic and contemporary Indigenous trauma and wisdom, treaties and right relations, active youth engagement, and Indigenizing education.

She is always interested in mentoring young people and co-founded a youth project out of the University of Toronto, the University of Saskatchewan and Lakehead University. More information on the Canadian Roots Exchange (CRE) can be found at: www.canadianroots.ca.

Tracy Whittaker-Taggart, M.A., is a Psychologist, educator, mentor, and champion of changing the way we think about kids. She is also a wife, daughter, pet mom, and never far from the ocean.  For more than 25 years she has built a career at the intersection of Psychology, education, and practice. Tracy has worked in the public school system for her entire career, while also balancing private practice work, teaching graduate education courses for both teachers and psychologists and giving back to the profession through her work on the provincial regulatory board and supervising students and early career psychologists. Tracy believes that lasting change doesn’t begin with a new strategy, it begins with a new understanding. She believes that curiosity about behavior comes before the intervention. When we change the way we think about behavior, we naturally make different decisions about how we intervene .

Tracy will bring together psychology, brain based understanding and educational practice to help anyone working with dysregulated children and youth to simply ask better questions, to drive better interventions. When you attend one of Tracy’s workshops, expect to challenge your thinking, walk away with strategies to use tomorrow, and have a little fun along the way.

RegistrationEarly bird FeeRegular Fee
Individual 1 Day Enrollment$229.00N/A
1 Day Group 3 - 7$169.00N/A
1 Day Group 8 - 15$119.00N/A
1 Day Group 15+ $99.00N/A
Individual 2 Day Enrollment$399.00N/A
2 Day Group 3 - 7$295.00N/A
2 Day Group 8 - 15$208.00N/A
2 Day Group 15+ $173.00N/A
Individual 3 Day Enrollment$569.00N/A
3 Day Group 3 - 7$420.00N/A
3 Day Group 8 - 15$296.00N/A
3 Day Group 15+ $246.00N/A

All fees are in Canadian dollars ($CAD) and per person.

How to Purchase a Group Rate

  1. Add Seats to Your Cart
    Select the total number of seats you need for your group and add them to your cart. Each seat represents one participant who will be enrolled in the course.

  2. Complete Your Purchase
    Proceed to checkout and complete the payment for the total number of seats needed for your group.

  3. Contact Our Office
    Once your purchase is complete, please contact our office at webinars@jackhirose.com with your order number.

  4. Receive Group Enrollment Link
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If you have any questions or need assistance, don’t hesitate to reach out.

Fees are per person, seat sharing is not allowed. Please respect this policy, failure to comply will result in termination of access without a refund. For group rates please contact webinars@jackhirose.com

 

  • Canadian Psychological Association
    The Alberta College of Social Workers (ACSW) and the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Social Workers (NLASW) accept CPA-approved continuing education credits

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