Skip Navigation

National Resource Center for Youth Services

What Happened to Connection?

October 7, 2026

OU-Tulsa Schusterman Center
Deco Room
4502 East 41st Street
Tulsa, OK 74135
(918) 660-3000

Event Trainers
Tracy Nunley, MA

Human beings are wired for connection, yet the pull toward disconnection can be surprisingly strong. Why?

This engaging training explores the powerful role connection plays in our lives and why meaningful relationships can be both deeply rewarding and surprisingly difficult to maintain. Through interactive discussions, practical insights, and reflective activities, participants will examine the experiences and patterns that strengthen connection, the factors that create distance, and why the strategies people use to protect themselves can sometimes become the greatest barriers to belonging. Together, we'll explore what connection requires, what threatens it, and why it remains one of the most powerful influences on resilience, growth, and well-being.

Key Take Aways:

Participants will be able to:

  1. Explain the role connection plays in healthy human development, well-being, and resilience.
  2. Identify how life experiences, including trauma, can interfere with meaningful relationships and a sense of belonging.
  3. Apply transferable strategies that strengthen trust, empathy, belonging, and authentic connection with children, youth, families, and others.

Registration

The University of Oklahoma is committed to providing equal access to activities and services. If you have an accommodation or special need request, please describe your request below.

CEU Credits

0.3

Event Agenda

October 7, 2026

9:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. CDT

Registration/Check-in

9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. CDT

Training

The University of Oklahoma OUTREACH National Resource Center for Youth Services
5727 S. Lewis Ave., 2nd Floor, Tulsa OK 74105-7146 | (800) 274-2687

© 2026 National Resource Center for Youth Services
Legal Notices     •     Accessibility Statement     •     COVID-19 Statement