Beyond Behaviour Community Services

We welcome feedback so that we can continue to grow in our skills and ensure we are meeting the need. This week, we received this feedback from Placement Services - and it is such a humble reminder of why we do what we do! We ❤️ feedback!

Here at Beyond Behaviour we wholeheartedly believe in and apply the Trust-Based Relational Intervention model throughout our interactions.

By its design, this model encourages a caregiver to understand that a child’s actions communicate unmet needs and by consistently applying Trust-Based Relational Intervention principles, they prioritise safety, connection, and attunement—ultimately strengthening the relationship and enabling the child to regulate, trust, and engage more positively over time.”

"Oh they're just attention-seeking", becomes, "Awww, they're seeking love". What does it cost? Give love today ;-)

We hold hope for all families who are separated by intrusive statutory systems. When punitive processes that claim to be trauma-informed are lacking, they deplete people to the extent that they give up hope and 'disengage', which is in turn, punished by creating even greater distance between children and their families. We believe families can be healed, restored and reunified. In Child Protection Week 2025, we emphasize the importance of the child's experience and their core need for connection, acceptance, and belonging within their own families. That's why we believe it's necessary to do 'whatever it takes' for 'as long as it takes' to journey alongside families and see them whole again.

Its world su***de prevention day today and a reminder that sometimes the only thing we can do is be alongside people and hold hope for them when all their home is lost.

Maybe it is growing up in a close community, maybe its the impact of the rural context, but I've known a lot of people die by su***de. I think I was still in primary school when I remember the first local su***de. It still gets me right in the heart when I learn of people ending their life.

I used to not understand it - how people couldn't see that life could be better. I also used to think it was selfish. But becoming a clinical psychologist, and in the last few years having some of my own challenges too, I have a deeper understanding of how complex it is. I also understand that sometimes there is nothing anyone could have done to prevent someone ending their life early.

Before my training, I worked on crisis teams and worked closely with those who had recently attempted su***de. The reasons are many, and one thing I learned is that sometimes the only thing you can do is be alongside somwone and hold the hope for them. Hope that life will regain uts colour one day.

***depreventionawareness ***depreventionday

“This song is about not just telling your babies that you love them, but actioning your love and fighting for them, sacrificing your own selfish needs to meet theirs,” Barkaa elaborated in a statement. “‘Fight For Me’ is saying that if you love your babies, you will fight with everything you’ve got to be a better person for your children and bring them back home to where they belong.”

This Child Protection Week, we want every Mother, and every Father to know, WE BELIEVE IN YOU. We believe in the strength you don't even know you have. We believe that you love your babies. We believe that your needs should be met FIRST, and then, from a well of resource, we believe you will have the courage, tools and energy to meet the needs of your babies too.

We know that every baby longs for connection from their own parents and families. This is where the healing must focus.

Barkaa - Fight For Me (Official Video) ft. Electric Fields Official music video for 'Fight For Me' ft. Electric Fields by BARKAA.Stream 'Fight For Me' now: https://BARKAA.lnk.to/FightForMeIDListen to more BARKAA: htt...

NAIDOC 2025...

Here's the truth...

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are 10.8 times more likely to be in out-of-home care than non-Indigenous children;
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are 11.5 times more likely to be removed into out-of-home care as infants;
Only 15% of government funding is spent on prevention, such as Family Support Services, the rest is spent on child protection and
out-of-home care services;

Despite numerous legal and policy frameworks protecting the cultural rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, the issue is that the over-representation of our children in out-of-home care remains alarmingly high—nearly ten times that of non-Indigenous children—and this disparity continues to grow.

The solutions are clear and have been called for by community for decades; a new approach that trusts Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to handle Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander business.

Intergenerational traumas continue to impact Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Lateral violence is still prevalent, mental health and trauma experiences weaponised and harming vulnerable people, perpetuating shame and hopelessness. "Not good enough", is still haunting people, families, communities.

Today is the time to empower and strengthen our children for the future, and it begins with our Elders, grandparents and parents. Healing must wash down across the bloodlines.

"Our cultures and traditions have fallen asleep when the disasters happened. But now they've been revived, and they're just going to keep going. It's pretty phenomenal. There's a saying, you're living your ancestor's wildest dreams if you're thriving", Stacie. Wurundjeri, Dja Dja Wurrung, and Ngurai Illum Wurrung woman.

Marri Budyari Stacie, Marri Budyari to our old people who have walked before us, and I pray this NAIDOC for greater restoration, and reclamation and pride, to filter through to the young ones.

What a privilege to present on TLSW, a model developed by Prof. Richard Rose, at the QKFC Conference 2025. Helping children and young people to recover and make sense of their lives is the passion of everyone at BBCS, and we hope to see more TLSW being delivered in Queensland, as we embrace the responsibility of healing and restoration for every child and every family.

Our attachment strategies start in the womb, and carry on for our entire lives. Did you realise that you still use attachment strategies in your relationships as an adult? Regardless of what strategies you developed to attempt to protect yourself from danger, or elicit a safe response from caregivers, or to attempt meet your own needs; you can earn secure attachment at any age. Our self-worth, trust in others and abilities to function (learn, communicate, grow, develop, regulate, etc)., are all a result of how our needs are met in attachment relationships. We love the work of Creative Clinical Psychologist. What a great visual resource to do an audit on our early attachment systems, and what we might need to consider about how we meet the needs of children and young people, and what we need to earn secure attachment today.

While there’s no research to prove its effectiveness, ADHD body doubling is helping many people get things done. You know how you can go for a run with that really cool PT, and they seem to really motivate you, but heading off to the gym alone is completely out of the question? It’s the ‘doing together’ that creates the motivation.

It’s thought to be an effective method of assisting those who are easily distracted (i.e., neurodivergent) to stay on task, focus, and increase motivation when their executive functioning would otherwise be challenging. This unconscious act of mirroring, is considered to be encouraging and helpful, and well, if you ask someone who has utilised it, they’ll tell you it can be powerfully effective.

It all comes down to those ‘mirror neurons’. These cool little cells are a class of neuron that modulate their activity both when an individual executes a specific motor act and when they observe the same or similar act performed by another individual. Neuroscience shows that mirror neurons impact our ability to grasp new skills, acquire knowledge, and form deep emotional connections with those around us, even helping us understand why people do what they do (Cook et al., 2014).

Well there’s a really common sensical reason for that! When we are born, we learn very quickly from our primary caregiver, usually our mother, and those mirror neurons are really important. But what when our caregiver has been non-responsive, and our needs were not met, and our attachment strategies were built to defend and protect us from threat, and neglect?

If our parent, or caregiver is unable to meet our needs, and help us to learn and grow, and develop, then we are going to need a caring, nurturing consistently responsive caregiver to close the gaps, and fulfil the attachment cycle that we all rely on for maturation, healthy relationships and wellbeing. There is no judgement, sometimes parents lack the resources and skills, (have too many gaps themselves) to give children what they need. That’s why we must always consider families across generations, not just focussed on one. Families suffer with intergenerational gaps, and impairments in terms of attachment, and impairment is just simply a reduction in the function of something – well you have to learn it 100s of 1000s of times in your early years, or it will be a loss – a gap.

These gaps, these limitations and ‘impairments’ can be recovered, and body doubling is the perfect way to do that. Parents are sent to parenting programs and courses all the time, without any positive outcomes. Why? Well, it’s not rocket science, it’s the mirror neurons. If we rely on consistent, responsive caregiving to meet our needs, to form a secure attachment, develop social skills, and develop across all domains (cognition, nervous system, motor skills, language, emotional etc.)., then our ability to learn is not forged by a book, or a good teacher – it’s forged in our primary attachment relationship along with every other area of our growth. No matter our age, we need to repair and close the gaps within a safe relationship, and parents can build capacity with a present body double (mentor and coach) standing right alongside them, activating those same mirror neurons that weren’t fired up earlier in their lives.

This is great news! It’s also important that systems consider what works if they are really serious about family restoration. Let’s get busy helping humans in human ways. Body doubling is not just for ADHD, it’s for everyone!

It may seem strange to say that correction can bring connection but this is a very important form of connection. Connection doesn't mean that you give your child everything they want to keep them happy, connection is being real with each other and despite mistakes and raw feelings, still being loved. It is through correction that your child can see that even though you may be angry or disappointed in their behaviour, your love for them will not change. There is no greater security than knowing that despite our faults we are loved and accepted. It is for this reason that connected parenting does not use punitive forms of discipline when when a child needs correction. Instead you explain to each other how you feel, and solve the problem together.

More information in my book

Guidance from The Therapist Parent

Available on my website www.thetherapistparent.com and Amazon