Are you ready to thrive in your classroom instead of constantly putting out fires? Power struggles are challenging for everyone – adults and kids alike. This live training is packed with the strategies you need to decrease power struggles, increase cooperation, and build connection with kids who challenge you the most.

After this online training on Power Struggles, you will:

Understand why power struggles happen and what to do about them
Feel confident responding to power struggles in the heat of the moment
Have a toolbox of easy-to-follow strategies that prevent power struggles from happening in the first place

IMPACT's online childcare courses are Merit STARS approved and provide evidence-based early childhood education training.

2 Lessons
- Understanding Power Struggles
- Preventing Power Struggles

Get to know us

Meet Your Trainers

We have a team of multidisciplinary professionals who have developed this training and are excited to present to you live!

Amy Bender, MA,
IMH-E ®

Director

Amy has over 15 years’ experience supporting children and families through early learning programs, day treatment preschool settings, and providing direct therapeutic services to children and families. Amy holds a Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology with a specialization in Childhood Psychopathology and Child Development. She is endorsed as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Mentor and provides Reflective Supervision and Consultation. She has been with Northwest Center for 12 years supporting inclusive early learning as a Director, Operations Director, and launching IMPACT in 2018. Amy utilizes her experience supporting children with mental health disorders and challenging behaviors through her work with IMPACT, and is a passionate advocate for the early learning field.

Kristen McLeskey, MS,
IMH-E®

Inclusion Specialist, Direct Service Lead

Kristen has supported children and families for over 15 years with professional experience in mental health, early intervention/early supports, and early learning. She holds a Master of Science degree in Clinical Psychology and an Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health Endorsement. As an Inclusion Specialist with IMPACT, Kristen has followed her passion for empowering early childhood professionals with insights and innovative strategies to support children with challenging behavior, disabilities, and complex needs. She is an advocate for inclusive early learning, and her special interests include sensory processing, trauma-informed practices, and play-based behavior supports.

Elizabeth Carley, OTD, OTR/L, IMH-E®

Program Development, Evaluation Specialist

Liz has nearly 20 years of professional experience since completing her bachelor’s, master’s and clinical doctoral degrees in occupational therapy at the University of Southern California. In this time, she has practiced as an occupational therapist serving children and families through a non-profit community-based mental health agency and served as Assistant Professor of Clinical Occupational Therapy and the Director of Admissions for the Chan Division of Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy at USC. In her current role with IMPACT, Liz creates professional development course content, delivers trainings to early childhood professionals, and supports the team with program and systems development and evaluation.

This live training is held virtually using the Zoom platform that is integrated with our online school. You will need a desktop or laptop computer, or a tablet, with speakers, microphone, a webcam, and high-speed internet access. To ensure the best possible experience, please take a moment before the live training to ensure your device and technology will work successfully.

Review the system requirements for the Zoom online meeting platform
Try out a test meeting
Test your audio and video in the meeting
Review our handout for how to join a live zoom training and navigating the course page
Log in at least 10 minutes before the training to ensure your technology is working

IMPACT™ trainings are developed by a multidisciplinary team and makes every effort to ensure that information provided reflect evidence-based, early childhood best practices. Providers should always follow local jurisdictions and other governing bodies rules and regulations when implementing any strategy or suggestion. Any actions, or lack of actions, are not the responsibility or liability of Northwest Center Kids – IMPACT™.

All content, including the presentation thereof on this web site, is the property of Northwest Center IMPACT™, and protected by U.S. and international copyright laws. You may not copy, reproduce, distribute, transmit, modify, create derivative works, or in any other way exploit any part of copyrighted material without the prior written permission from Northwest Center.