Training and Education
This training and education hub was created to help Edmontonians come together to support one another in living happier, more meaningful lives. Whether you're caring for family, friends, coworkers, or even strangers, we all play a role in looking out for each other.
These courses are designed to support your growth—whether you're a peer, a service provider, or someone just trying to help. Topics include mental health and addictions, suicide prevention, peer support, poverty and housing, parenting, and more. All trainings emphasize approaches that are fair, trauma-informed, culturally sensitive, and rooted in community values. See a calendar view of upcoming locally offered training →
Understanding Attachment: The Impact of Trauma on Brain Development and Behaviour – The Family Centre
We will explore how early attachment interactions shape brain development, identify various attachment patterns, and discuss complex trauma within the context of attachment.
Join us for an enlightening workshop that delves into the intricacies of attachment theory.
Our 6-hour workshop includes:
Detailed coverage of brain development affected by early attachment
Identification of different attachment patterns
In-depth discussion on complex trauma related to attachment
Strategies for assessing and intervening with both children and caregivers
Through a blend of lectures, videos, and experiential exercises, participants will gain valuable insights into the impact of trauma on attachment behaviour. Participants will enhance their understanding and skills in working with service users in a supportive and engaging environment. This workshop uses content from: Alberta Family Wellness Initiative
Building Effective Leaders – The Family Centre
This course consists of four individual 3-hour workshops. In this introductory leadership course, participants will learn that effective leadership begins with an understanding of yourself.
These sessions will give participants the skillset to grow into strong leaders, mentors, and coaches within their organization. This course is designed with a clear purpose: to increase the expertise needed to lead effectively, no matter the participant’s place in the organization. Leadership is not just for those with fancy titles—it's for anyone looking to step up and make a difference.
We believe that becoming a great leader starts with a better understanding of yourself. Participants will use resources such as Discover Your Strengths/Clifton’s Strengths Finder 2.0, the Emotional Intelligence Skills Inventory, 16 Personalities, and the Enneagram Personality Test to develop their own unique leadership style and vision.
To register: TFC – Leadership Development
Building Trust and Resilience Through Relationship-Based Supervision – The Family Centre
In this 3-hour workshop, participants will acquire the tools and skill sets necessary to become effective leaders within their organizations.
By embracing trauma-informed values and adopting relationship-based supervision models, they will cultivate environments of trust, empathy, and support. Acknowledging the diverse past experiences of their staff members, participants will gain insight into how these experiences may influence their work with their service users. Participants will be equipped to intervene proactively to avoid burnout, fostering a culture of well-being and resilience.
Participants will develop essential skills to ensure that their teams can thrive in even the most challenging circumstances. Through this comprehensive approach, participants will not only enhance their leadership capabilities but also contribute to supporting their agency’s service users through an effective supervision model.
To register: TFC – Leadership Development
Principles of Trauma-Informed Supervision – The Family Centre
In this 3-hour workshop, participants will engage in an in-depth exploration of the five values of trauma-informed care, examining their critical role in fostering safe and effective supervision practices.
Through this workshop, attendees will gain an understanding of how these components intersect with and enhance the supervisory process. Participants will develop a proficiency in nurturing the growth and development of their staff. Additionally, they will learn to assess their supervisees' quality of life in relation to their work, ensuring a holistic approach to staff well-being and professional growth.
By nurturing qualities such as humility, hunger, and emotional intelligence, participants will foster cohesive, high-performing teams.
The content presented in this workshop is based on the Creating Cultures of Trauma-Informed Care model (CCTIC) developed by Community Connections.
To register: TFC – Leadership Development
Protocol Teachings – The Family Centre
Learn about the significant of protocol in Indigenous culture and how to offer it respectfully.
In the nêhiyaw worldview, health and wellness are understood as miyo pimâtisiwin, or ‘living the good life,’ and is achieved by seeking mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical balance. miyo pimâtisiwin is a way of being and a commitment to living and practicing in accordance with nêhiyaw ceremonies, teachings, and values.
Through active participation in this 1-hour workshop, participants will:
Develop an understanding of the relationship between ceremony and healing
Understand the significance of and meaning behind offering protocol
Learn how to respectfully approach Elders and offer protocol
To register: TFC – Indigenous Teachings
Seven Sacred Teachings – The Family Centre
Join our knowledge holder as they guide participants in discussing what each of the Seven Sacred Teachings means and their application to the work with Indigenous children, youth, and families.
The Seven teachings provide the foundational directions for living miyo pimâtisiwin (living the good life). Each animal has shared teachings with us, and it is through them that we learned how to behave in the world.
In this 2-hour workshop, participants will:
Experience a smudge and understand how smudging places oneself in a sacred space, readying the participants to enter into a healing relationship
Receive teachings on the Seven Sacred Teachings
Learn how the Seven Sacred Teachings are applicable in many different contexts and how they can be used to better support and engage Indigenous children, youth, and families
To register: TFC – Indigenous Teachings
Smudge Teachings – The Family Centre
We believe that any individual who has been given the gift of the smudging ceremony by an Elder or knowledge holder has the responsibility to practice that gift with the children, youth, and families they work with.
In this 1-hour workshop, participants will:
Experience a smudge and understand how smudging places oneself in a sacred space, readying the participants to enter into a healing relationship
Receive smudging teachings and understand how to respectfully enter into ceremony
Gain the confidence to lead a smudge with groups of people
Participants who attend will be able to better support and engage Indigenous children, youth, and families through ceremony.
To register: TFC – Indigenous Teachings
Teaching Traditional Parenting – The Family Centre
Discover the rich traditions of Indigenous parenting (miyo opikinawasowin) with our workshop, "Teaching Traditional Parenting".
This immersive experience, facilitated in ceremony, provides an overview of Indigenous parenting concepts and practices, including the history, legacy, and intergenerational impacts of colonization on parenting.
In this 6-hour workshop, participants will:
Learn about moss bags, cradleboards, swings, baby rattles, Indigenous stories, and tipi teachings
Gain a deeper understanding of nêhiyaw parenting from an Indigenous worldview
Acquire practical tools to help their service users integrate these concepts into their homes
The core of this workshop was developed by the late Janet Fox from the Onion Lake Cree First Nation.
To register: TFC – Indigenous Teachings
Parenting Toddlers and Pre-Schoolers – The Family Centre
The Parenting Toddlers and Preschoolers workshop helps take some of the guesswork out of parenting by helping you better understand why children behave the way they do up to the age of five.
As a parent of a child under five, every day is an exciting challenge full of surprises. You never really know what to expect next when it comes to things like language, learning, or physical activity. And then there are those temper tantrums that seem to flare up out of nowhere! At times, you may feel like nothing you do as a parent is working. We’ll offer positive strategies to help you guide your children’s behaviour and provide a nurturing home, while you take care of yourself.
Who can attend:
Any caregiver who is parenting a child between 18 months and five years old.
Caregivers interested in establishing positive parenting practices in toddlers or preschoolers.
You will build skills for parenting toddlers and preschoolers by understanding:
What to expect as your child develops
Your parenting style and how it affects your child
Why children behave the way they do
How to positively guide behaviours
What bonding is and why it’s important
How ‘play’ helps develop physical, intellectual, and social skills
How to encourage confidence
How to better communicate with children
How to deal with misbehaviour and tantrums
How to potty train
How to care of yourself
By the end of the session, you will feel more comfortable:
Creating effective parenting strategies and giving positive feedback
Addressing misbehaviour or other issues
Setting boundaries, limits, and guidelines
Communicating with your child or children
Providing a nurturing home environment
Minimizing the negative effects of divorce or separation (if applicable), and
Solving day-to-day problems and challenges
Cost:
Group workshop: $150 per person.
Private session: $325
We are dedicated to supporting families of all income levels. We offer a subsidy for attending the group workshop for this class, thanks to funding from the City of Edmonton Family and Community Support Services.
If needed, you can apply for a subsidy by selecting one of the subsidy options in the registration form.
To register: TFC – PTPS
Parenting School Age Children – The Family Centre
Learn how to support your child when they are between the ages of 5 and 11.
When your child turns 5, they start to gain a new level of independence. Between the ages of 5 and 11, they spend more time at school, with friends, and participating in extra-curricular activities. This means they are spending less time with you under your direct supervision and care.
Since you can’t be there to solve all of your child’s problems as they occur, you need skills to teach them to be independent and make positive choices. The Parenting School Age Children workshop offers a way to help you understand how they’re growing up and the type of role you should have with them as they go through the school years.
Who can attend:
Any caregiver who is parenting a child between 5 and 11 years old
Caregivers interested in establishing positive parenting practices or addressing challenges in school age children
You will build skills for parenting school-age children by understanding:
What to expect as your child grows and develops
Your parenting style and how it affects your child
Why school-age children behave the way they do
How to positively guide behaviours
How to better communicate with your child
What bonding is and why it’s important
Ways to teach your child problem-solving skills
The ins and outs of self-esteem
Discipline strategies
Internet safety
Chores – what to expect and when
What drives power struggles and how to address them
How to care for yourself during this stage
By the end of the session, you will feel more comfortable:
Creating effective parenting strategies and giving positive feedback
Addressing misbehaviour or other issues
Setting boundaries, limits, and guidelines
Communicating with your child
Providing a nurturing home environment
Minimizing the negative effects of divorce or separation (if applicable), and
Solving day-to-day problems and challenges
How much does it cost?
Group workshops: $150 per person.
Private session: $325
We are dedicated to supporting families of all income levels. We offer a subsidy for attending the group workshop for this class, thanks to funding from the City of Edmonton Family and Community Support Services.
If needed, you can apply for a subsidy by selecting one of the subsidy options in the registration form.
To register: TFC - PSAC
Empowering Parents – KARA Family Resource Centre
Join us for an inspiring session designed to boost your confidence, calm, and connection.
Discover practical, uplifting tips on positive parenting, building confident children, and caring for yourself along the way. These supportive sessions are here to empower you on your parenting journey.
To register: KARA – Programs
Parenting After Separation (PAS) – Government of Alberta
PAS is an e-Course to help parents and guardians make positive choices about how they will continue to parent their children after separation.
PAS provides parents with information about the separation and divorce process, the effects of separation and divorce on children, techniques for communication and legal information that affects parents and children.
PAS and PASHC e-Courses are available in English and French at no cost.
To register: GoA – PAS
Parenting After Separation High Conflict (PASHC) - Government of Alberta
PASHC is an e-Course available to all parents and guardians who have completed the PAS course and are experiencing more intense, long-lasting conflict during their separation.
PASHC provides information and strategies to help reduce the level of conflict between separated parents and help minimize the negative impacts of parental conflict on children.
PAS and PASHC e-Courses are available in English and French at no cost.
To register: GoA – PASHC
Birth & Babies – Alberta Health Services
A prenatal education program for pregnant women and their partners in Edmonton and Area.
This program is available in varying durations, from 2 weeks to 5 weeks, or on weekends. Each class is two hours long. Classroom topics are determined in real time and may change from group to group and class to class. Topics often include when to go to the hospital, the labour process, coping strengths & strategies for both mom and the support person, postpartum care, newborn feeding & care basics, finding credible information on the internet and more.
We recommend bringing with you: water bottle/snacks, a mat (to try out labor positions/massage) and printed resources sent to you by your facilitator for activities. Hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes will be provided in class.
It is recommended that a series ending approximately 4 weeks prior to the expected due date be selected whenever possible. If this is not possible, please choose a class that works best for you.
If you require financial support to attend a class please call 780-342-2833 or email birthandbabiesedmonton@albertahealthservices.ca.
To register: AHS – B&B
Best Beginning Program - Alberta Health Services
Best Beginning is a free supportive health service for pregnant women who are facing challenges.
This program is designed for women who:
Need information to make healthy choices during pregnancy
Feel alone and isolated
Face language or cultural barriers
Are living on a low income
We offer:
Support from social workers, nurses, dietitians, and outreach workers
Group health education and peer support
Children's programming (1-6 yrs)
Healthy snacks and time to connect with other pregnant women
Community and Health Resources
To register: AHS - BBP
Exploring Family Literacy – Centre for Family Literacy
This workshop takes a closer look at what family literacy is and shares ideas on how parents can enhance and build on their child’s emergent literacy and language skills.
Parents and primary caregivers hold the key to early literacy skills for their children.
To register: CFL - Workshops
Science and Literacy – Centre for Family Literacy
Learn about the role science plays in family literacy.
Parents and primary caregivers hold the key to early literacy skills for their children. This workshop takes a closer look at what family literacy is, with the focus on science, and shares ideas on how parents can enhance and build on their child’s emergent literacy and language skills.
To register: CFL - Workshops
Skills for Learning – Centre for Family Literacy
Learn essential skills for your child’s development.
Do you know what the 9 essential skills are and why they have been deemed as skills everyone needs to have to be successful? We use them at work and at home and you may be surprised to learn how often you use them. These are skills that can help your child navigate in their world. The workshop will look at new ways to help you enhance these skills for your child in fun and creative ways.
To register: CFL - Workshops
Numbers are Everywhere – Centre for Family Literacy
This workshop is full of fun and easy ideas and activities to help your little one discover a love of numbers.
Do you need help sorting the socks, measuring for a recipe or finding Family Day on the calendar? Your toddler can help as they learn and understand numbers.
To register: CFL - Workshops
Building Blocks to Literacy – Centre for Family Literacy
This workshop will look at the stages children go through before they become readers and writers.
Can parents and caregivers help their children get ready for literacy? Parents and caregivers will be able to identify the stage their child is in and participate in fun hands-on activities with their child.
To register: CFL - Workshops