Complex Case Consults for Working with Children and Families
Trauma-informed, child-centred support for ethical and risk-aware decision making
Working with complex child and family presentations can feel overwhelming, especially when risk, safeguarding responsibilities, multiple systems, and the child’s emotional needs all intersect.
Complex Case Consults at Children’s Therapy Tasmania provide a structured, trauma-informed consultation space for professionals who want to think clearly, ethically, and child-centredly when the work feels layered or high-stakes.
These consults support you to move from uncertainty and competing demands to clarity, confidence, and next steps, without rushing the process or minimising risk.
Who complex case consults are for
These consults are designed for professionals working with children and families, including:
Child and family therapists (social workers, counsellors, psychologists, play therapists)
Child protection and out-of-home care practitioners
Educators, school counsellors, and wellbeing staff
School leadership teams managing complex student wellbeing concerns
They are particularly helpful for professionals navigating complex presentations, safeguarding concerns, and ethical decision-making within systems.
When a Complex Case Consult may be helpful
A complex case consultation may support you when you are:
Managing high-risk or safeguarding concerns involving a child
Navigating mandatory reporting decisions
Holding multiple, competing demands across family, school, and service systems
Unsure how to prioritise safety while maintaining a child-centred approach
Feeling stuck or uncertain about next clinical or professional steps
Wanting to ensure the child’s voice remains central in adult-led systems
Seeking ethical clarity and defensible decision-making
What to expect from a complex case consult
Each consult is delivered as a 1:1 or small group, 60-minute online session via Microsoft Teams.
Consults provide a contained and reflective space to slow the work down, think clearly, and integrate trauma-informed principles into real-world decision-making.
Together, we will:
Make sense of complexity without oversimplifying
Clarify risk and safeguarding priorities
Support ethical and professional judgement
Identify realistic and child-centred next steps
Strengthen confidence in your role and decision-making
Feeling unsure? Book a 15 minute clarity call instead.
Trauma-Informed Case Conceptulisation Framework
Consults are guided by a trauma-informed case conceptualisation framework that considers:
The Child’s Needs
The emotional, relational, developmental, and safety needs of the children you’re working with.
Function
What children’s behaviours and responses may be communicating and how can we support building their skills.
Context & Capacity
The family, relational, cultural, educational, and systemic influences that are impacting the situation, as well as the child and their network’s capacity.
Safety & Risk
Any current and emerging risk, safeguarding concerns and protective factors the family may be facing.
This framework supports balanced, ethical, and trauma-responsive practice, especially when working with complexity.
What complex case consults may explore
Complex Case Consults may include:
Risk formulation and safeguarding decision-making support
Consultation around mandatory reporting processes
Ethical reflection and professional responsibility
Written summaries or frameworks following the consult (where appropriate)
Ongoing consults for the same case, if helpful
Please note:
Consults are not therapy for the practitioner
Consults do not replace clinical supervision
Final clinical responsibility remains with the practitioner
This space exists to support your thinking, not to take responsibility away from you.
Benefits of Complex Case Consultation
Practitioners often leave a consult feeling:
Clearer about priorities, risk, and next steps
More confident in trauma-informed and ethical decision-making
Better able to hold the child’s voice within complex systems
Less alone with high-stakes work
Grounded, supported, and steadier in their role
Book a Complex Case Consult
Consults can be booked as a one-off or as part of ongoing case support.
Feeling unsure? Book at 15 minute clarity call instead.