Professional curiosity: finding meaning in (the) social and emotional responses of children

Can we always trust what we see and hear? Is there anything we can be do better in order to uncover hidden harm or neglect? Sometimes as practitioners, we might have a gut feeling that something is not right, but the social and emotional responses we see in others appear to directly contradict our own feelings. 

There can be some situations where theory might be relied upon too much in child protection practice when it comes to finding meaning in behaviour. When we try to apply meaning through theory alone, professional curiosity may become lost. We may even lose our exploratory senses and further need to ‘search for new knowledge’.

Join this session to:

• Understand the importance of professional curiosity in finding meaning in the social and emotional responses of others and how to build confidence in practice.
• Learn how certain survival strategies can develop in the context of relational trauma.
• Consider how to break down the barriers that get in the way of developing professional curiosity and understanding behaviour. 

Laura Hanbury, clinician and PhD research student, Royal Holloway University