Sexual Development 101

Concerns regarding sexualized behaviour of young children are often identified by parents, day care staff, school staff and others. Ensuring that normative behaviour is not mislabeled, nor concerning behaviour ignored, is important. Join us in this Sexual Development workshop that will bring additional clarity to these issues.

Understanding “ inappropriate sexual behaviour” presentations is impossible without having a clear understanding of normative sexual development, birth through puberty. This workshop will review the stages of sexual development, outlining developmental expectations for each stage.

Additionally, the workshop will address confusing issues surrounding sexualized behaviour presentation by the preschool and school aged child.
Key areas of inquiry will be outlined to assist in gathering the information necessary to ascertain developmental appropriateness of behaviour. Criteria to determine the necessity of clinical intervention will be reviewed.

The role of parents, educators, health personnel and mental health practitioners will be discussed.

The influence of culture and media on “acceptable” behaviour will also be addressed, as cultural considerations are key in working respectfully with families

Date: May 2, 2024

Time: 9:00 AM - 3:30 PM EST (Toronto time)

This training will be recorded and the recording will be available for all registrants for 3 months.

Instructor: Geraldine Crisci

Geraldine Crisci, M.S.W. is a mental health professional with 40 years experience in the field of trauma. She is a private practitioner who provides assessment and treatment to children, youth and their families. She is also a professional trainer providing educational programs to mental health, protective services, law enforcement, medical and other helping professions. Geraldine developed and teaches the 6 day trauma Assessment and Treatment Program for Safeguards which has reached 3,500 professionals in the past 20 years. Geraldine has developed protocols for the assessment and treatment of trauma, sexualized behaviour problems and sibling sexual abuse. Geraldine also developed reunification protocol for families separated for protection reasons, including sibling sexual abuse. She has provided support to agencies and families towards successful adoption of children from the protection system. She has worked extensively with live-in treatment programs for children and youth for the past 20 years. She specializes in addressing the impact of trauma on the behaviour of children and youth. To this end she develops clinical programs to provide children, youth and their families with corrective and effective therapeutic intervention. Geraldine is a member of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC); ATSA; CPRO. She co-authored Paper Dolls and Paper Airplanes: Therapeutic Exercises for Sexually Traumatized Children, which is currently in its 20th year of printing.

For more information, please visit: https://georgehullcentre.ca/institute/training/sexual-development

For our refund policy, please visit: https://georgehullcentre.ca/institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Institute-of-Childhood-Trauma-and-Attachment-Refund-Policy.pdf