Working with Complex Young People

It’s hard enough being a young adult in this world, let alone living through the complexities of Covid, homelessness, adversity and/or exclusion. This webinar will discuss these themes and the ways in which we can help our disadvantaged youth reintegrate back into society whilst ensuring our own self care is not compromised or abandoned.

Key focus areas –

1. STREAT – a Social Enterprise aimed at getting youth off the streets into supported career/life pathways

2. Exploring our disadvantaged youth; their stories and support

3. Self-care whilst supporting others

CPD Certificates –

When registering, please ensure you check the spelling of your name before submitting as this is the data used to create the CPD certificate names. The I&A Team are not responsible for incorrect registration details.

Dr Kate Barrelle is a clinical and forensic psychologist with over 25 years of applied experience and a career that centres around people and their well-being. Her early career was in community mental health and private practice, working with adults and adolescents who had experienced a wide range of personal and clinical issues. She also worked with perpetrators and survivors of violent and sexual crimes, gang and cult members. She was an expert witness for the Prosecution and Defence in 100s of criminal and civil cases. Kate then worked for several years in the (then) Commonwealth Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, providing behavioural science input to the Counter-Terrorism Branch.

Kate moved to Melbourne a decade ago with her wife Rebecca Scott to co-found STREAT. This Melbourne-based social enterprise provides holistic, tailored support and vocational training to young people who are marginalised or disadvantaged. STREAT has worked intensively with over 500 young people to date. In non-COVID times, STREAT operates 11 hospitality businesses in Collingwood and across Melbourne CBD that provides the training experience directly for our trainees, and which also generates the revenue to cover most of the cost of the training and intensive support for our trainees. RMIT modelling using Victorian Treasury data indicates that, as a self-funded social enterprise that receives less than 1% government funding, STREAT has saved the government over $16 million in the last decade. STREAT also has an in-depth ‘Planet Plan’ and offers urban horticulture training pathways as well.

In addition to STREAT, Kate completed an internationally award-winning PhD about walking away from violent extremism. Her research involved interviews with former radicals about disengagement from extremism and their subsequent societal reintegration. This work has resulted in a model of disengagement from violent extremism (Pro-Integration Model) that informs a holistic, strengths-based, structured approach to early intervention. Kate co-designed Australia’s national Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) risk assessment, needs analysis and case management tools and regularly delivers training on this topic. The key to disengagement from a destructive trajectory is engagement elsewhere in a way that is meaningful to the young person. Kate was an expert witness at the Martin Place Coronial Inquiry and sits on various government and community advisory boards on this topic. Through STREAT, Kate continues to provide consultancy advice regarding the reintegration and rehabilitation of at-risk youth, including those radicalising towards violent extremism.

Kate has delivered over 500 training workshops and is passionate about translating research and knowledge into applied practice. Her current role involves the oversight of STREAT’s holistic and trauma-informed youth training programs as well as tracking STREAT’s M&E and impact. One of her favourite jobs is to be the handler of ‘Magic’, STREAT’s Therapy Dog!

Register Here