22 November 2022

The traditional child protection conference on the topic of "Mental resilience - strengthening the strengths of children" was held for the seventh time on 16 November 2022 and was organised by Kreisjugendring Nordhausen e.V. as the project sponsor for early help in cooperation with the local university and the district of Nordhausen.

With 173 registrations, the organisers around Christin John (Network and Coordination Office for Early Help) and Jana Urbanek (research assistant at the university) can look back on a very large, very diverse and very successful event, which was moderated by Claudia Ehrhardt-Weißenborn (also from Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences).

For many years, topics such as resilience and the mental health of children and young people have become important parameters in educational work. The aim of this year's event was to sensitise professionals involved in child protection and early intervention to the topic and to provide impetus for professional action.

Carsten Nöthling, Managing Director of the Thuringia State Association for Child Protection, gave an insight and overview of resilience development, promotion and research in his opening presentation "What strengthens children - promoting child resilience in everyday life". Children need trust, stability, secure bonds and community in order to grow and to develop their abilities and skills so that they can develop strategies for themselves to cope with stressful life situations in particular. To do this, they also need conditions for success, such as reliable public structures and programmes that offer them compensation for stressful conditions. "They must be able to have positive experiences and professionals can actively support this, both through their actions and their attitude," says Nöthling.

Carolin Roth then gave a presentation on "Attachment-orientated relationship building in a professional context". The systemic therapist and supervisor explained: "Attachment and belonging is a basic human need: without a counterpart, no personal identity can develop. Therefore, in an educational context, attachment security is also a decisive factor that determines whether and to what extent a child or young person can benefit from the education and/or help on offer." Attachment-traumatised children in particular challenge their caregivers. Roth pointed out possibilities for self-reflection in such emotionally difficult situations. 

The conference concluded with a presentation by Prof. Dr Armin Sohns, Professor of Special Needs Education and Head of the Early Childhood Competence Centre at Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences, as well as the scientific director of the event. He presented the model project "Inclusive Early Intervention", which he designed and has been implementing in the Herzberg region since 2020. "In order to identify developmental problems in children at a very early stage and to make it as easy as possible for parents to access counselling and treatment, an interdisciplinary, preventative and family-oriented early intervention programme was created without the need for an application. This has made access much easier for families over the last two years, they have reached the early intervention system much earlier and it has been possible to establish preventative services in the entire social area." A participant from the audience spontaneously spoke up and reported that she had also benefited from this pilot project and that it had enriched the social environment.

Caption Group picture:Claudia Ehrhardt-Weißenborn, Christin John, Carolin Roth, Prof Dr Armin Sohns, Carsten Nöthling and Jana Urbanek

(Source: KREISJUGENDRING Nordhausen e.V.)