Staying Inside The Window of Tolerance

Staying Inside the Window of Tolerance: Supporting Looked After and Previously Looked After Children

This advanced training explores how trauma and adversity shape the emotional and behavioural responses of Looked After Children (LAC) and Previously Looked After Children (PLAC), using the Window of Tolerance framework developed by Dan Siegel.

Children who have experienced abuse, neglect, loss, or instability often develop heightened stress responses that affect their ability to regulate emotions, form relationships, and engage in learning. This course provides a clear, evidence-informed understanding of how Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and developmental trauma impact the brain and nervous system, and how these effects present in everyday behaviours.

Participants will gain insight into how children move between states of hyperarousal (fight/flight) and hypoarousal (shutdown), and how these responses are adaptive survival mechanisms rather than intentional misbehaviour. The training emphasises the importance of recognising behaviour as communication and responding in ways that prioritise safety, connection, and regulation.

Grounded in UK research and practice, this course equips professionals and carers with practical strategies to:

Identify early signs of dysregulation
Support children to return to a regulated state through co-regulation
Build safe, consistent relationships that promote resilience
Apply trauma-informed approaches in everyday interactions

The training also highlights the critical role of stable, supportive adult relationships in buffering the impact of adversity and widening a child’s window of tolerance over time.

Designed for social workers, foster carers, educators, and professionals working within the children’s workforce, this course bridges theory and practice, supporting participants to better understand children’s internal experiences and respond with confidence, consistency, and compassion.