Introduction

This online evening talk & discussion space is our latest Sunflower Soirée (now in a new midweek timeslot) and will take place live between 7-9pm on 22nd November.

Our presenter is Cath Knibbs, an experienced child and adolescent therapist and an expert in a wide range of topics that fall within the increasingly impactful areas of online safeguarding of children and young people, and Cybertrauma – the range of harms that can occur when interacting with online spaces and social media.

This evening’s topic is the rise of ‘Furries’ – an evolving area of identification for children and young people, and includes time for discussion and a Q&A.

This can be an emotive area of discussion and the evening is intended to help contextualise understanding and awareness of this topic generally, and together consider any implications with regard to safeguarding and the therapist’s role in relation to that.

 

Content Summary from Cath:

Fursona, Persona or Therapeutic Issue?

A two hour conversation, regarding the space of fursona, interspecies identification, therian or LARP’ing?

A potentially controversial topic around an evolving identification space of children and young people, and its historic roots.

People are asked to attend to build their awareness of the space which has blossomed and grown since the advent of social media, and to consider what this may mean for children in therapeutic settings.

This is a session where all sides of the conversation will take place so we ask that attendees are respectful throughout.

There will be some contextual issues to consider, as well as some thinking around how to manage this area of work with safeguarding staff and those who may be raising this as an issue.

Questions will be centred around is this an issue to have concerns about or not?

 

About Cath:

Cath is a Clinical Doctoral Researcher, Online Harms Consultant, Public Speaker, Author (of 4 books to date), Educator and TEDx Speaker. She is a Child/Adult Trauma Psychotherapist. She works with global organisations regarding child sexual abuse material, Mental Health and Immersive Technologies and the harms that can occur in the new digital spaces. She writes about, and works with, Cybertrauma (trauma that occurs through an internet-ready device or medium). This is much more than Online Harms covers in its remit to date. She also educates therapists and practitioners via her company Privacy4 about Data protection/privacy/cybersecurity issues in relation to their practice. She disrupts and advocates for children’s rights, privacy, and online digital explorations. Catherine is also a Director for Online Safety UK and the mental health advisor for Gamersbeatcancer CIC

Information about Catherine can be found on her website where she discusses tech geekery, gaming and its use in therapeutic situations (of sorts), trauma psychotherapy using biofeedback/tech and gaming to elicit Post Traumatic Growth, healing and flow.

Her recently published book Children, Technology and Healthy Development focuses on the ‘why’ we do what we do in cyberspace, and how to help children, young people and adults. There are two more books to follow in mid-2023 on Online Harm for practitioners.

 

CPD ACCESS PASS

This workshop is free to anyone who holds a current CPD Access Pass. The Access Pass is a key part of The Sunflower Network’s commitment to providing affordable and accessible high quality CPD to our peers, and can be bought by individuals who have joined our free Sunflower Hub multi-disciplinary resource. The Pass entitles the holder to 12 hours of CPD with us across one calendar year as well as free access to our Sunflower Soirées which are our two hour evening talks, discussion spaces and networking events.

 

CERTIFICATES & RESOURCES

The ticket price includes any handouts the trainer may wish to share with you – which will be sent out AFTER the event has taken place – and a CPD certificate.

 

ETHICAL CONDUCT AT SUNFLOWER EVENTS

It is a requirement that all participants adhere to ethical conduct in the context of events including:

Respect for Sunflower staff, trainers and other attendees
Adherence to policies and procedures
Maintaining confidentiality and privacy
Sensitivity to complex issues being discussed

Anyone in breach of these threshold requirements may be removed from an event and could be unable to attend further events in the future. This is to safeguard the staff and participants as well as to enable quality assurance for the safety and wellbeing of all attendees.

In booking an event these criteria are agreed to in principle and committed to in practice.

 

SELF-CARE NOTICE:

Therapeutic trainings can work with complex and emotive topics that may be deeply personal for some delegates, depending on their lived experience. There will be breaks included on the day and one to one support will be available if needed, but please do reflect on whether you feel able to attend.  Your safety and wellbeing is of paramount importance.

 

WAYS TO PAY

It is possible to arrange payments for tickets to our events in instalments on the condition that the full balance has been received no later than two weeks before the chosen event takes place. We also offer discounts for groups / teams of 3+, discounts for individuals booking multiple events, and to arrange invoices for your place of work to way for you (advance payment required).  To discuss or arrange any of these ways to pay, please email [email protected]

 

RECORDINGS:

Please note – The Sunflower Network does not record events for purchase or view at a later date nor permit recordings of the event to be made. All our events are ‘as live’. This is to safeguard the nurturing and contained environment we create online in order to maintain our culture of safe, private and supported interactivity and sharing.

 

UNCREDITED USE OR REPLICATION OF CONTENT SHARED:

On behalf of the trainers we work with, we do not allow content shared during our CPD days to be replicated or used in any way without due credit to the copyright owner. Doing so without previous consent may result in exclusion from further Sunflower events.

 

WAYS TO PAY

It is possible to arrange payments for tickets to our events in instalments on the condition that the full balance has been received no later than two weeks before the chosen event takes place. We also offer discounts for groups / teams of 3+, discounts for individuals booking multiple events, and to arrange invoices for your place of work to way for you (advance payment required).  To discuss or arrange any of these ways to pay, please email [email protected]

 

BOOKING TERMS & CONDITIONS

All bookings to be paid in full except where private arrangements have been made to pay in instalments and agreed by us. Tickets &/ or any instalment payments are non-refundable once payment has been made. You can re-sell or transfer your ticket to another attendee up to 24 hours before the event opens – as long as we have notice in writing with their name. On request The Sunflower Network Ltd. may be able to help advertise and/or facilitate any re-sales but this will incur an admin fee of £15.00 to cover our costs including subsequent charges we receive from the ticket providers. Please note The Sunflower Network Ltd. cannot ever guarantee a successful re-sale and responsibility for finding a new purchaser remains with the original ticket holder at all times. No transfer or refund will be considered for a ‘no show’ on the day of the event for whatever reason.

If you are booking a ticket as part of a discount offer, only ONE discount can be applied to a ticket at any one time.

The Sunflower Network Ltd. reserves the right to make changes to the booking terms and conditions, the timetable, content and/or any events at any time due to unforeseen circumstances. In the event of cancellation by us and if we cannot offer an alternative date, we will refund the cost of the ticket price for the event in full. We will not be responsible for any further cost incurred by you in relation to your booking.