Childcare Provider Professional Development Series

All area childcare providers are welcome to attend the FREE Child Care Provider Quarterly Professional Development Series. Attendees will receive credit towards annual recertification requirements.

Speaker: Brett Bieberle
Topic: Caring for Others Without Losing Yourself: Understanding Stress, Navigating Difficult Relationships, and Preventing Burnout in Childcare

Caring for young children is meaningful and rewarding work, but it can also be physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausting. Childcare providers face unique challenges, including constant supervision, long hours, competing responsibilities, challenging interactions with parents, and supporting children and families experiencing difficult circumstances.

This interactive workshop will explore the impact of chronic stress, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress on childcare professionals. Participants will gain a better understanding of how stress affects their thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and relationships, while learning practical strategies for managing daily challenges.

Special attention will be given to navigating difficult conversations with parents, establishing healthy professional boundaries, recognizing the emotional impact of supporting families through adversity, and developing realistic approaches to personal well-being.

Through discussion, real-world examples, and practical exercises, participants will leave with tools they can use immediately in their childcare settings to better support themselves, the children in their care, and the families they serve.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this two-hour workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Recognize signs of stress and burnout: Identify common sources of stress in childcare settings and recognize how prolonged stress can affect emotional well-being, patience, decision-making, and relationships.
2. Apply practical stress-management strategies: Demonstrate simple, realistic techniques for managing emotional reactions, regulating stress, and maintaining patience during demanding childcare situations.
3. Navigate challenging relationships with families: Identify effective communication strategies for managing difficult parent interactions, responding to conflict, and establishing respectful professional boundaries.
4. Understand secondary traumatic stress: Describe how exposure to children and families experiencing trauma, adversity, or significant life challenges can affect childcare providers emotionally and professionally.
5. Develop a personalized plan for well-being: Identify individual stressors, personal warning signs, healthy boundaries, and at least two practical strategies to support resilience and reduce the risk of burnout.

There will also be a prize drawing for attendees that evening. This is a wonderful opportunity for childcare providers to connect with fellow professionals and build strong networks. 

Thank you to the Childcare Fund of Ellis County in partnership with The Heartland Community Foundation for providing a grant for the 2027 Childcare Provider Professional Development Series.