12/08/2025
How do we effectively support children who've experienced trauma when conventional behaviour management approaches fail them? This powerful training session delivers a transformative framework for understanding what's really happening beneath challenging behaviours.
At the heart of this approach are three critical questions: What's truly driving a child's behaviour? How can we respond therapeutically to those underlying needs? And how will we measure our success? Through the innovative AAA model—examining Attachment representations, Arousal levels, and Accessibility to needs provision—we explore the internal world of traumatised children.
Children who've experienced relational trauma develop distorted beliefs about themselves ("I'm unlovable"), others ("Adults are unreliable"), and their world ("It's unsafe"). Their nervous systems often operate in overdrive, making them anxiety-prone and reactive. Most significantly, they've learned that getting needs met requires extraordinary effort—explaining the demanding behaviours that frustrate so many caregivers.
Traditional behaviour management strategies like ignoring unwanted behaviours, reward systems, and punishments simply don't work with these children. They weren't raised in environments where reinforcement was consistent, making these approaches ineffective at best and harmful at worst.
The AURA approach offers a powerful alternative: being Accessible to reassure children we're available, responding with Understanding through our words and actions, being proactively Responsive to needs before children must demand them, and maintaining Attunement—that crucial emotional connection that communicates worth and care.
For foster carers, kinship carers, residential workers, teachers, and other professionals supporting children recovering from tough starts, this training provides practical, compassionate strategies that address the real reasons behind behaviours of concern. By shifting our focus from managing behaviours to healing relationships, we create the conditions for genuine growth and recovery.
https://colbypearce4.wordpress.com/2025/08/12/aura-over-authority-rethinking-our-response-to-challenging-behaviours-2/
When it comes to managing challenging behaviours in children who have experienced trauma, conventional approaches often fall short. Colby Pearce, a renowned expert in child trauma and development, …
