Services | Nicola McAllister Training and Consultancy
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My Services

All training, consultancy and coaching sessions are tailored to meet the specific needs of each establishment, group or individual.  Embedded throughout, is current research regarding child development, neuroscience and how unmet needs are manifested through behaviour.  This is translated into real life scenarios equipping participants with practical, hands on solutions that will bring about long term positive changes.

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Education

This training will encourage staff in education to reflect on their beliefs and  practises when responding to behaviour in the classroom.  It aims to challenge traditional consequence based philosophies and approaches around behaviour management in schools.  Exploring the links between neuroscience, child development and behaviour will enable staff to make informed decisions about how to respond more effectively while providing safe and nurturing environments which support the development of self-regulation within their pupils.   They will acquire a framework that will provide them with simple and practical methods that will bring about positive and long term change in the classroom. 

The training will adopt a whole school approach with opportunity for post training staff consultation and policy development.

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Topics include: 

  • The developing brain and nervous system, what children need to settle to learn

  • The impact of insecure attachments and developmental trauma on stress responses

  • Supporting neurodiverse children in school settings

  • Regulate – reconnect – respond, a three-tiered collaborative approach to improve relationships and change outcomes 

  • Identifying and addressing unmet needs and lagging skills

  • Creating sensory aware learning environments

  • Establishing positive, proactive routines in the classroom 

  • Developing self-regulation within children and young people for long term success 

  • Responding to adults’ emotional needs, creating supportive environments for staff

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Fostering and Adoption

Attachment theory and understanding how trauma impacts on brain development is embedded within the core of this training.  It encourages carers and adopters to view challenging behaviour through the lens of survival and stress responses.  It explores the limitations of traditional, punitive forms of behaviour management and promotes a model based on soothing stress responses, nurturing secure relationships and developing proactive routines of behaviour.  Training is tailored to the specific needs of each group with opportunities for one-to-one consultation or coaching sessions post training. 

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Topics include: 

  • Childhood/adolescent brain development and vulnerable nervous systems

  • The impact of trauma on the body and brain

  • Understanding the importance of attachment and attuned relationships

  • Recognising a child's emotional state and developmental stage when considering our responses

  • Regulate – reconnect – respond, a three-tiered collaborative approach to improve relationships and change outcomes

  • Helping children to predict and plan for tricky situations

  • Supporting the development of self-regulation through everyday routines and scripts

  • The impact of the sensory environment on the distressed child

  • How to stay connected while being aware of our own emotional state

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Early Years

Understanding how the brain develops pre-birth and into the early years of life is crucial in maximising opportunities for child development and building secure attachments.  Behaviour needs to stop being seen as challenging or naughty but as the child’s way of communicating uncomfortable and complicated feelings.  By understanding what part of the brain is in charge at any given time, allows adults the opportunity to make informative decisions about how best to sooth stress responses, reconnect with the child and co-regulate in order to practise alternative and more positive outcomes.   

Training is tailored to meet the needs of specific groups and can also include individual consultations or in context coaching. 

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Topics include: 

  • Early brain development 

  • Understanding the importance of attachment pre-birth and into the early years 

  • The impact of trauma and adverse childhood experiences

  • Unmet needs and lagging skills

  • Realistic expectations and boundaries

  • Sensory processing and dysregulation 

  • Supporting positive communication 

  • Developing self-regulation through predictable routines and scripts 

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Coaching for Parents and Carers

Parenting takes on many different forms depending on individual circumstances but the common goal is to raise children who are happy, feel secure and are equipped with the tools to navigate life in order to reach their full potential.  Although this sounds easy, the pathway is rarely a straightforward one but filled with bumps and setbacks along the way. 
Parenting a child is the most important, as well as the most difficult, role anyone will undertake.  Add to that, the depth and range of emotions, alongside daily inner conflicts about how to respond or react to situations, can quite often make parenthood feel stressful and exhausting.  
Coaching sessions allow time to reflect on situations that are causing worry or frustration in a contained and supportive setting.  Working together we will tease out the difficulties and begin to develop a shared understanding of all the factors that might be causing your child to react in certain ways.  Using this information, we will explore how we can make changes that will support your child to develop new routines of behaviour allowing them to get their needs met but in a different way.   
The content of the coaching sessions is based on recent neuroscience findings and steers parents away from punitive approaches such as naughty steps and time outs.  Instead, it will focus on soothing stress responses, developing and repairing relationships and working collaboratively to predict difficulties before they arise while planning for long term positive outcomes.  
Coaching sessions are available to all who are undertaking a parenting role.  Depending on location coaching sessions can happen at home or remotely.  An initial consultation will be arranged to discuss concerns and create an individualised plan.

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