Getting Unstuck
Engaging Families in Situations of 'Denied' Child Abuse
We're crazy-excited about the Getting Unstuck Course
In this course we'll:
- watch first hand as Susie Essex models her work,
- learn about and practice using different types of methods, strategies and questions for engaging parents and the safety network in order to move past the dispute, and
- learn practical tools to engage the family and safety network in the safety planning process.
We guarantee this course will bring value to you and your work today!
Susie Essex, BA Hons, CQSW, DSA, DASS
Susie has over 40 years experience in Child Protection work. Susie has experience as a Child Psychiatric Social Worker, Local Authority Child Protection Manager, Child Care Training Manager, and Consultant Family and Systemic Psychotherapist. Susie has also been a Lecturer in Child Protection at University of Bristol, and Head of Family Therapy Service.
In the early 1990’s Susie as Lead Practitioner, along with her colleagues Colin Luger, John Gumbleton, and Jan White, developed the Resolutions approach to denied/disputed Child Protection concerns and stuck cases. The approach put the welfare and safety of children at the center of the work and was in response to older children who had come forward to end abuse but didn’t want an end to their family. Susie and her colleagues had over 25 years experience using the Resolutions approach, with children and young people across the age range, and with their families and extended kinship systems. This approach is now being used in Denmark, Netherlands, Australia, USA, and Canada, a key emphasis is on openness and establishing a safe network for children.
Susie is now retired living in Cornwall UK.
By the end of this 8 session course participants will be able to...
- Understand 'denial' on a continuum and how to manage the different forms of 'denial'.
- Build strategies and questioning skills to engage families and networks in situations of 'denied' child abuse.
- Gain confidence in facilitating difficult conversations or decisions.
- Increase awareness for the importance of involving safety networks throughout the safety planning process instead of working in isolation with parents.
- Learn tips and increase knowledge for managing stuck cases.
"I think that the online learning opportunities that have been provided by SafeGenerations are a unique and special learning experience. I like when the class communicates with one another about something that we are practicing because it gives me unique perspectives. This makes me a better practitioner because it gives me a more complete picture of how things are looked at between investigations and case management and even from supervisors to workers."
Frontline Staff Member, Missouri, USA
Course Curriculum
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StartSession 1: Module A - Best Hopes
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StartSession 1: Module B - The Basics of the Resolutions Approach
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StartSession 1: Module C - Language is Important
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PreviewSession 1: Module D - Entertaining Multiple Positions Simultaneously (1:59)
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StartSession 1: Module E - Working Around Denial (1:11)
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StartSession 1: Module F - Building Future Safety (2:34)
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StartSession 1: Module G - Aspects of Future Safety
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StartSession 1: Module H - Shifting Gears...Back to the Susie Video
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StartSession 1: Module I - Reflections from Pre-Work (2:56)
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StartSession 1: Module J - Finding a Workable Context (1:46)
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StartSession 1: Module K - Finding a Workable Context In Action (4:25)
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StartSession 1: Module L - Finding Your Own Workable Context
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StartSession 1: Module M - Practice Application
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StartSession 1: Module N - Reflections and Homework
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StartSession 1: Module O - Additional Resources
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StartSession 2: Module A - Homework Reflections
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StartSession 2: Module B - What Are the 'Big 5'? (2:16)
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StartSession 2: Module C - I Understand People Are Worried (1:55)
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StartSession 2: Module D - I Need To Cooperate So I Don’t Lose My Children... (1:10)
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StartSession 2: Module E - I Need To Cooperate To Prevent Further Misunderstandings… (2:02)
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PreviewSession 2: Module F - I Understand That I Do Need A Network
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StartSession 2: Module G - We Need To Explain This Better To The Children (1:09)
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StartSession 2: Module H - What Theme Is Susie Exploring? (7:34)
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StartSession 2: Module I - Reflection & Application
Your Course Guide
A trainer or consultant can guide your group through the Getting Unstuck Course. All trainers and consultants participate actively in the broader international community, sharing and growing their knowledge and skills through training, gatherings and individual and group supervision.
Your Course Developer
The SafeGenerations Team has worked together to develop this course. The full-time team (Andrea Robideau, Bill Schulenberg, Sarah Sundman and Sherry Amelse) has more than 50+ combined years of experience in direct practice with families in child welfare and counseling. They know first-hand what it takes to learn and grow in asking questions and leading conversations. As of 2019, SafeGenerations had provided training and consulting services to more than 65 jurisdictions across the United States and Canada. The trainers at SafeGenerations bring their tried-and-true methods for engaging families to collaboratively build lasting safety for their children.
Eric Sulkers is a pediatrician from the Netherlands, specializing in child protection, endocrinology and diabetes. Eric has experience with the Resolutions Approach, the Signs of Safety approach along with other child protection models based on training he has received since 2006. This included co-hosting and sometimes co-presenting with individuals including Susie Essex, Andrew Turnell, Peter de Jong, Rob Saywer, Sue Lohrbach, Sonja Parker and Adriana Uken.
Eric hosted numerous workshops with Susie Essex where he video recorded Susie leading role-plays with actors to capture her work. In recent years Eric has spent many hours subtitling these videos to understand from a systemic perspective what motivational techniques Susie used to get parents engaged in the journey towards safety.
From 2006- 2017, Eric was the primary consultant to the Child Protection agency in Zeeland, a southwest province of the Netherlands. As part of that role, he was central in developing the use of the Signs of Safety (SofS) approach in Zeeland. Eric also established a high risk pregnancy project and a domestic violence project that were both grounded in Signs of Safety.
Eric is currently a trainer in Motivational Interviewing and in Solution-focused Therapy in the Korzybski Institute (Bruges) and in the Solutions Centre (Soesterberg).
Frequently Asked Questions
No portion of this course can be duplicated, published or distributed without direct permission from SafeGenerations. Contact [email protected] with questions or requests.
Your classroom will close one month after your last scheduled session.