Overview

You know what to do with the child. That part, you trained for.

But then the mum rings crying on a Tuesday afternoon. The support coordinator wants a report you're not sure you should be writing. You find yourself doing more work between sessions than the family is doing at home. And somewhere in the file there's a court order nobody mentioned.

So whose job is that?

This session is about the questions that don't have a clean answer in your training. Where your role ends and someone else's begins. What belongs to you, what belongs to the parent, what belongs to another professional, and what doesn't belong to anyone in the room yet.

We'll work through the parent and stakeholder side of child practice honestly: private clients versus NDIS clients, parents who aren't ready to change, separated families and the parent you've never met, court orders, referring parents on, and the boundaries that keep you doing this work for more than two years.

You'll leave clearer on what's yours to hold, and far more confident saying so out loud.

Session outline

• Two systems, two jobs. Private paying families and NDIS families are asking you for different things.
• Naming which job you're actually in.
• Whose readiness are we working with? Stages of change for parents, and why your beautiful strategy hasn't been used yet.
• Who's doing the work here? How to spot when you're working harder than the family, and how to hand it back without damaging the relationship.
• Whose crisis is this? Private practice is not a crisis intervention service. What that means in practice, and how to hold it kindly.
• Who isn't in the room? Ethics around separated families, consent, and working with a child when you've only ever met one parent.
• Whose orders are these? Managing court orders: what to read, what to ask for, and what to do before the next session.
• Whose regulation are we asking for? Co-regulation before emotion coaching, and how to raise capacity with a parent who has nothing left, without shame.
• Who else needs to be at the table? Engaging parents in therapy, knowing when to refer them on, and bringing those clinicians into the stakeholder team so the load is shared.
• Where your job ends. Boundaries, language, and the conversations you've been avoiding.

Please note:

To help your day run smoothly, please allow extra travel time if travelling during peak periods. Limited paid parking is available nearby, and several public car parks are within walking distance. The venue is also easily accessible via public transport, with both Melbourne Central Station and Flagstaff Station located a short walk away.

Tea, coffee, and light refreshments and lunch will be provided. We recommend bringing a water bottle and anything else you may need to stay comfortable throughout the day such as sensory supports.

If you have any accessibility requirements or dietary needs, please let us know in advance so we can do our best to accommodate you.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this event, participants should be able to:

• Clarify the scope of their professional role by distinguishing between therapeutic, care coordination, crisis response, and case management responsibilities across private practice and NDIS service contexts.
• Apply evidence-informed frameworks (including stages of change and co-regulation principles) to assess family readiness, tailor interventions, and support sustainable parent engagement without over-functioning.
• Navigate complex ethical and legal issues in child and family practice, including informed consent, separated families, parental responsibility, and the interpretation of court orders.
• Implement strategies that promote shared responsibility by recognising when responsibility has shifted from the family to the clinician, confidently maintaining professional boundaries, and facilitating collaborative care with other professionals where appropriate.
• Respond effectively to complex family presentations by identifying when parents require additional therapeutic support, making appropriate referrals, and coordinating multidisciplinary care to enhance outcomes for children and families.
• Strengthen reflective and sustainable clinical practice through the application of clear boundaries, ethical decision-making, and communication strategies that protect clinician wellbeing while maintaining strong therapeutic relationships.

Presenter(s)

Ms. Emily Hanlon

About the presenter(s)

Emily is an Australian Clinical Psychologist, mum of three, and the founder of The Playful Psychologist. With over a decade of clinical experience across Australia, she helps parents and professionals feel confident, calm, and capable when supporting children's emotions and behaviour. Since founding The Playful Psychologist in 2018, Emily has supported thousands of families and early-career clinicians through her Grounded Growth Framework, built on three pillars: grounding, reflection, and growth. Her approach is flexible, affirming, and rooted in the belief that differences are diversity, not deficits; a conviction shaped by more than a decade of clinical work and a lifelong personal connection to neurodiversity through her own ADHD and her autistic brother.

Notes

Registration includes morning tea, afternoon tea, lunch, speaker notes.

Target Audience

This activity is aimed at Psychologists working with children or are interested in working with children.

Please note:

• This is a Member Groups event. All communication will be sent to the registrants’ registered email address. This includes event reminders with details (such as the venue details) and any pre-event or post-event resources, if provided by the facilitators.
• A post-event email will be sent within two weeks of the event’s completion to each registrant’s registered email address. This email will include the CPD certificate, and any additional resources shared during the session.

Duration of Access

This event will not be recorded.

CPD

It is up to attendees to assess and determine how learning from this event aligns with the requirements of their learning plan. The providers accordingly do not make any representation that the event counts towards attendees’ CPD learning requirements. If an attendee determines themselves that the learning they complete aligns to their learning plan, then they can decide to count those hours towards their CPD requirements for the registration cycle.

The information in this presentation has been prepared in good faith and for educational purposes only. Therefore, the information is general in nature and should not be relied upon in the treatment of any condition and you should seek your own independent professional and/or legal advice concerning any specific issue. The APS accepts no responsibility for any errors, omissions or decisions relating to the information. The content should not be reproduced without permission or unless permitted by law.

If you are experiencing registration difficulties please contact APS Events Support.