Emotion Focused Skills Training for Carers

Emotion Focused Skills Training (EFST) is a program that supports parents and carers to explore the complexity of desperately wanting change and progress towards recovery and at the same time feeling so stuck, relying on old and often unhelpful patterns of managing tricky emotions.

This free workshop is for parents, carers and partners (over the age of 18 years) living in Queensland who are supporting a loved one (up to the age of 25 years old) with mental health difficulties.

The training will be held online over 2 days, 20th and 21st May 2025 from 9am to 2.30pm each day.  Attendance at both days of training is required.

Register here events.humanitix.com/navigating-emotions-for-young-people-with-mental-health-difficulties-emotion-focused-skills-training-for-carers

Together we will delve into:

• the complex world of emotions,
• how we are uniquely built (temperament and attachment considerations),
• the way our inner critic can hijack our emotions and keep us stuck,
• a new way of understanding boundaries, and,
• learning the tools of validation, boundaries and the gift of apology as a way of transforming relationships.

Using education, real-life examples, interactive activities and reflective tasks we aim to increase parents’ and carers’ self-awareness and efficacy to allow a renewed confidence in navigating emotions.

Clinicians from the CHQ CYMHS service – including community CYMHS and the Eating Disorders Program – will facilitate this workshop allowing for application of the concepts to a range of mental health difficulties and ages from children to young adults.

What is included?

• Participants will be provided with a skills training workbook to help guide them through the program.
• Participants will have the opportunity to engage in practical group activities and individual reflection.
• This workshop includes experiential exercises that are focused on working with emotion.  Participants will choose how much or little they feel able to share in the group context.

More information about EFST, an approach developed by Dr Joanne Dolhanty and forms the basis of this workshop, can be found at the following website