Children & Focusing Roundtable Series - Building a Community for Children with Special Needs and Childhood Trauma

Thursday, September 11, 2025 
1:00-3:00 pm NY Time
Times worldwide: convert to your time zone

Registration Closes Wednesday September 10 at 9am NY Time

Join us for a heartfelt and inspiring meeting where Claire will share her vision and journey of creating a safe, nurturing community for children with special needs and those who have experienced childhood trauma.

This project-in-progress is more than just a space — it’s a movement toward inclusion, healing, and belonging.

Discover how parents can bring their children for a half or full day of care, connection, and support. Learn what it takes to create the right environment, build the right team, and ensure that staff have essential training — including Focusing — to truly meet each child’s needs. Claire will also speak about the practical steps involved, such as fundraising and program development.

• Together with Harriet, you’ll take part in a guided exercise to explore: What lights you up? What are you passionate about - big or small?
• What could be a next step to bring your vision to life?

We’ll share in small connection rooms, and close with a shared reflection in the larger group.

Invite yourself to connect, be inspired, and explore how we can take a step toward building communities where all children can thrive.

Who might be particularly interested in attending this Roundtable?

Everyone who works with, or are a parent of a child with special needs. People who work with children with childhood trauma and look after children, (children in care). Focusing-oriented professionals working with children, or adults (parents, teachers, psychologists, caregivers, etc.) will also find this roundtable helpful.

It is also for anyone who feels the importance of the relationship that we have with our environment and the passing on of life skills and knowledge, so that they are not lost and forgotten. Perhaps you may like to explore creating a space in your school or work place for children with special needs to be themselves.

CONNECTION>CONVERSATION>COMMUNITY

What to expect from Focusing Roundtables: Each Focusing Roundtable is designed to promote informal peer-to-peer conversation. Rather than acting as expert presenters, the Hosts will serve as conversation moderators to encourage sharing and exploration of the topics from the participants’ own perspectives.  All participants’ sharings are welcome and valuable, no matter what level of experience or knowledge you have on the topic. This Roundtable will be recorded. Normally and hereforwaard, to preserve the nature of informal conversation, Roundtables are offered live only. Registration is unlimited. Participants are encouraged to create follow up opportunities for connection among themselves after the Roundtable.

The TIFI Membership Committee is pleased to offer this series of Focusing Roundtables designed especially for members of the Institute. If you are not a member, please join at focusing.org/membership, then return to this page to register. This program will afford members a valuable opportunity to engage in casual peer-to-peer conversation with other members who share Focusing-related interests. 

Hosts for this Roundtable - Harriet Teeuw and Claire Ellis

Supported by The Children & Focusing Advisory Group

Harriet Teeuw is a Focusing Coordinator and Art Therapist, a member of the TIFI Children & Focusing Advisory Group and is working in her own practice with children and adults in The Netherlands. Teaching “Dynamic Expressive Focusing” and Focusing International Online (Dream) Workshops and Certification Program for Focusing Practitioners: http://www.childrenfocusing.org; www.deruimte-info.nl 

Claire Ellis - Qualified Primary School Teacher working at present as a freelance art specialist, promoting creativity and self-expression within the art curriculum in schools.  I provide training for teachers to build confidence with their own artistic skill and self-expression.

I run an art club in my community for children with Focusing at the heart. Offering the opportunity for children to take autonomy over their learning and creativity. I studied Waldorf Education and trained as a Steiner Teacher and have worked for 10 years with children in care as a residential social worker where I learnt much of what became the foundation of my knowledge. Working alongside a multi-disciplinary team, supported children with ASD, ADHD, PDA and trauma. I have a BA Hons in Textile Art and when introduced to Focusing in 2002, intuitively picked up a pencil and paintbrush to paint and draw what I saw and felt.

The Children & Focusing Advisory Group
René Veugelers is a Coordinator specializing in Children’s Focusing, with an emphasis on the non-verbal world, René teaches parents, therapists, teachers and others how to be with children in a Focusing way, how to (re)connect to their own inner child experiences and how to integrate creativity and flexibility into their life and work. His work and experiences as a psychiatric nurse and as an art therapist with children, of any age, embraces an expanded richness of creative elements and supports a natural unfolding of creative process. René lives and works in the Netherlands, where he teaches Children Focusing and specializes in working with children with ADHD, ADD, trauma and attachment disorder.

Laura Bavalics is an early childhood educator, play mentor, and drama teacher. She is a Certified Focusing Professional and a Focusing-oriented educator, who has been working with young children, parents, and professionals for over twenty-five years. She is a professional director of the Pendula inclusive kindergarten program for children in foster care and with special needs at the Világszép Foundation in Hungary. She is also teaching at ELTE University, Hungary, in their College of Education. Laura is also a member of the International Leadership Council.