[Spring Summit] Child to Parent Violence

Audience: Caregivers & Professionals

Level: Intermediate
Ages addressed: 12-18+

PLEASE NOTE: To receive a certificate of attendance for the live webinar, attendees must register individually, attend the entire training, and watch from their own device to ensure proper tracking.

Child to Parent Violence (CPV) is an often misunderstood and under-recognized form of family violence that leaves parents feeling overwhelmed, ashamed, isolated, and unsure where to turn for help. This training provides a comprehensive, trauma-informed exploration of child to parent violence, examining the complex interplay between early attachment experiences, relational trauma, nervous system dysregulation, and family systems that contribute to aggressive, controlling, or violent behaviors directed toward caregivers.

Participants will learn how CPV differs from typical childhood defiance or behavioral challenges and why traditional behavior management strategies often fail to address the root causes of these behaviors. Drawing from attachment theory, developmental neuroscience, and relational trauma research, this training reframes child to parent violence not as willful “bad behavior,” but as a signal of unmet needs, chronic stress, and maladaptive survival responses within the brain and body. Special attention will be given to how early adversity—including neglect, emotional abuse, disrupted attachment, exposure to domestic violence, and chronic relational stress—can shape a child’s capacity for regulation, impulse control, and safe relational engagement.

This training will also address the profound impact CPV has on parents and caregivers, including fear, burnout, secondary trauma, and the erosion of parental confidence. Participants will explore how shame and stigma often prevent families from seeking help, and how professionals can create safe, non-judgmental spaces that promote disclosure, support, and healing. The training emphasizes the importance of avoiding blame-based approaches and instead focuses on strengthening relational safety, restoring parental authority in healthy ways, and supporting the nervous system regulation of both child and caregiver.

Through case examples and practical application, participants will gain tools to assess child to parent violence accurately, differentiate CPV from other behavioral presentations, and intervene using evidence-informed, relationship-based strategies. Interventions will emphasize co-regulation, boundaries rooted in connection, caregiver support, and collaboration across systems such as schools, mental health providers, and child welfare when appropriate. The role of parental responses, stress levels, and historical trauma will be examined with sensitivity and clinical nuance.

By the end of this training, participants will leave with a clearer understanding of child to parent violence, increased confidence in identifying and responding to CPV, and a practical framework for supporting families toward safety, stability, and healing.

Register Here