The Student Based Mental Health & Education Conference (Winnipeg, MB)

High Risk, Dysregulated Kids and Indigenous Perspectives in Technology-Saturated World
About this Event

*THIS EVENT HAS BOTH IN-PERSON AND VIRTUAL ATTENDANCE OPTIONS*

Welcome to The Student Based Mental Health & Education Conference: High Risk, Dysregulated Kids and Indigenous Perspectives in Technology-Saturated World

On behalf of Jack Hirose & Associates, welcome and thank you for joining us in Winnipeg, Manitoba. We are delighted to bring together educators, counsellors, therapists, administrators, mental health professionals, and helping professionals from across Canada for three days of practical, evidence-informed learning.

Winnipeg is a vibrant and culturally rich city with a strong sense of community, diverse dining, arts and cultural attractions, and a unique history. We encourage you to take advantage of your time here by exploring the city and experiencing the warmth and hospitality Winnipeg has to offer.

Throughout the conference, you will explore practical strategies for supporting children and youth experiencing emotional dysregulation, mental health challenges, trauma, and other complex needs. Sessions will also highlight Indigenous perspectives, resilience, connection, and culturally responsive approaches to supporting children, youth, families, and communities.

We hope you enjoy both the conference and your time in Winnipeg, and leave feeling inspired, connected, and equipped with practical strategies and new ideas to support the children and youth in your communities.

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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.

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Day One – December 2, 2026
Emotional Regulation: Understanding Triggers and Responding to Behaviours Across Educational and Clinical Settings
Presented by 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 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 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.

Day One

🕑: 08:30 AM - 04:00 PM
Emotional Regulation: Understanding Triggers and Responding to Behaviours
Host: Tracy Whittaker-Taggart, M.A.

Info: 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.

Agenda

Info: Introductions
Understanding emotional regulation: brain development, stress, and executive functioning
Why behaviour is communication: looking beyond the behaviour
Identifying triggers and understanding individual differences
Evidence-informed strategies to support emotional regulation
Creating environments that promote safety, connection, and resilience
Applying strategies through case examples and collaborative discussion
Reflection, action planning, key takeaways, and wrap-up

Learning Objectives

Info: Explain the relationship between emotional regulation, executive functioning, stress, and behaviour.
Recognize the factors that contribute to emotional dysregulation in children and youth.
Differentiate between observable behaviour, underlying emotional needs, and potential triggers.
Interpret behaviour as communication and use this understanding to guide supportive responses.
Evaluate evidence-informed strategies for promoting emotional regulation and determine when they are most appropriate.
Apply practical approaches to foster regulation, resilience, and positive relationships across educational, clinical, home, and community settings.
Reflect on how their own responses, assumptions, and environments influence children’s emotional regulation and behaviour.

Day Two

🕑: 08:30 AM - 04:00 PM
Working with Children and Youth who are High-Risk
Host: Caroline Buzanko, Ph.D., R. Psych

Info: 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.

Learning Objectives

Info: Analyze intersectional risk through biosocial and structural lenses
Differentiate self-harm typology and match intervention to regulation profile
Deploy crisis-specific physiological regulation skills
Conduct behavioural chain analysis to identify micro-intervention points
Navigate adolescent-family dialectical dilemmas
Implement culturally responsive adaptations without compromising fidelity

Day Three

🕑: 08:30 AM - 04:00 PM
Reclaiming Childhood and Adolescence in a Technology-Saturated World
Host: Cynthia Wesley-Esquimaux, Ph.D.

Info: 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.

Learning Objectives

Info: Examine the impact of technology, artificial intelligence, social media, and violence on child and youth development.
Explore current research and perspectives regarding technology and impaired neurodevelopment.
Understand how technology and screen-based lifestyles may influence children’s social, emotional, cognitive, and relational development.
Recognize the importance of empathy, compassion, connection, and community in fostering healthy development.
Explore Indigenous perspectives on child development, relationships, belonging, and wellness.
Understand the role of land-based learning and nature experiences in supporting resilience and well-being.
Identify protective factors that promote healthy development in children and youth.
Reflect on practical strategies for balancing technology use with opportunities for connection, culture, community, and outdoor experiences.
Develop approaches for supporting healthy development in homes, schools, and communities.