Growing active resilience for children, young people and communities in a changing world
Training, talks and coaching with Jo McAndrews
for young people and the parents and professionals who support them
Meeting challenging times together
We are living in challenging times. Climate and social crises are putting more and more pressure on all of our systems of support. Education, health and social services are increasingly under pressure and there is increasing stress on children, young people and adults. The research shows clearly that we need each other. We are a relational species and we have the potential for great resilience when we work together.
Together, we can create a culture of care; where parents feel supported and up to the task of raising strong and confident children; where children are seen, heard, valued and can grow into their fullest potential; and where communities come together to create a culture that is connected, compassionate and fully resourced to meet the ever evolving challenges we face. For that we need new ideas and robust strategies for meeting life with strength and flexibility.
I am Jo McAndrews, a specialist trainer and facilitator with over 30 years’ experience working across the education, social care, and community sectors.
My work is built on sound, up to date and immediately useable research and practice from the fields of neurobiology, attachment, trauma and resilience.
I work with professionals across social care, education and health, climate focused organisations, mental health provision, and children’s services. I also work with parents and carers who are looking for support and care in the deeply important work of raising children.
Learn more about me and my work here.
Training and talks for professionals and organisations
I work with organisations and professionals who support children, young people, and families, offering practical tools, deep knowledge, and warm support to strengthen wellbeing and resilience in your teams and communities.
My delivery is well researched, highly practical and supportive, leaving my audience with greater insight, tools for change and a deeper sense of hope and possibility.
Please visit the link below to learn more about my new selection of courses and support for professionals and organisations:
Training and talks for parents and carers
I offer a variety of online and in person workshops, talks and trainings for parents and carers to resource you with the skills you need to parent with deep empathy and radical care.
With decades of experience, I can provide the support you need to cope with the very real challenges children and young people are facing, whether through individual or couple coaching sessions, parenting courses or webinars.
“Superb content and trainer. Refreshingly honest, the authenticity of Jo’s message, delivered with a spirit and commitment congruent with her obvious belief in the importance of the learning, was very clear.”
– Feedback from training recipient
All my work is informed and inspired by…
creative arts psychotherapy
trauma informed practice
socially engaged somatics
evolved, indigenous human needs and nature
neurodiversity
warm accompaniment and validation
intergenerational care
restorative and non punishing practices
climate justice
equity and social justice
The magic of warm listening
an online course for parents and carers
Parenting is hard, but you don’t have to do it alone.
The Magic of Warm Listening is a deeply supportive course designed to help you build the strong, connected relationship your child needs to thrive.
Grounded in the latest research on attachment, trauma, and resilience, it will give you the practical tools and compassionate guidance to become your child’s best ally, especially in challenging times.
Truth without trauma
A practical guide for parents and other adults who would like to be more resourced when talking with children about climate change.
Understand why talking about climate change is so vitally important right now and how we can go about it in a more resilient and resourceful way.
Supported by neuroscience and full of practical strategies and advice.
Sign up to our mailing list to receive your free guide.
Co-resilience
a radical reclaiming
The word ‘resilience’ is of the moment. We need to be talking about it and yet it is understood in different ways according to the context.
The way we define resilience at LifeKind is the strength and flexibility to change, adapt and thrive in the face of challenge. It is not about simply bouncing back. It is about growing ever deeper into connection with ourselves, each other and the natural world, knowing that we are not alone.
There is no such thing as a resilient individual. Humans have evolved to depend utterly on each other and on the natural world. For this reason we are using the word co-resilience which starts to convey the depth of our dependence on each other.
Co-resilience is rooted in childhood. Our evolved needs are for intense and lifelong warm and empathic connection with others. Babies are born to expect a village of people to respond to every need with care. Growing children stay connected to safe adults to develop to their full potential.
Our industrial cultures have forgotten this truth and we are now seeing the devastating consequences; in tragic levels of mental illness amongst children, soaring social inequality, ecological devastation and climate change.
To face the challenges that are here now and in the future we need a new story - a story of change and reconnection with life, with all that enables us to be fully human. Co-resilience means that we are stronger together. It shows us a different way to bring up children, a way that gives them the true strength and flexibility to face the future.
There is no other way forward that stands a chance.
“We can’t protect our children from the impact of a changing world, but we can protect them from the trauma of being alone with it”
Jo McAndrews
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