This year the Profectum Conference will focus on children and adolescents with challenges in emotional and behavioral regulation and the essential role of relationships in effective interventions leading to self-awareness, self-regulation, and better choices. Aggressive behavior is challenging and distressing for parents, teachers, clinicians and the children or teens themselves. Feeling unsafe and unable to regulate strong emotions frequently cause or contribute to aggressive behavior in all children, and not only in those with ASD or other developmental and mental health challenges. Examine the underlying meanings and hidden triggers of aggression from multiple perspectives and learn both immediate strategies and long-term interventions to help children and teens develop capacities for self- monitoring and regulation, communicating feelings and fears, binding aggression in meaningful activity, and containing and processing their own and others’ emotions and anxiety

• Identify the role that individual differences, developmental capacities, relationships, family dynamics, school challenges, and trauma have on triggering aggressive behavior.
• Learn effective, in-the-moment, strategies and long-term interventions from case presentations of young children and teens.
• Observe how play affords a means to safely symbolize aggression, “cool” and regulate intense emotions, and promote reality testing.
• Consider our part as therapists, teachers and parents in the cycle of dysregulation and how reflective practice can serve to transform reaction to strategy.