Know Your Brain
"I never knew my brain could change. Now I believe I can make better choices and improve myself."
— Harvey, Know Your Brain participant
Knowledge of yourself. Belief in your capacity to change.
Know Your Brain is a neuroscience informed curriculum delivered to young people at the Brisbane Youth Detention Centre and West Moreton Youth Detention Centre.
Understanding the brain. Building a different future.
The program gives young people direct access to knowledge about their own brain — how it works, why it reacts the way it does, and how they can make different choices.
Grounded in Indigenous ways of knowing and being, and informed by applied neuroscience, the program works from a fundamental premise: that young people who understand their brain are better equipped to regulate their behaviour, manage their responses, and build the foundations for a different future.
Time in detention becomes an opportunity to reset; to learn, to reflect, and to grow.
Through a series of engaging lessons, Know Your Brain builds self-awareness, emotional regulation and decision-making skills. Young people learn to recognise what is happening in their brain during challenging moments, understand the difference between reactive and considered responses, and develop confidence in their own capacity to change.
Addressing root causes. Not just consequences.
Young people in the youth justice system face compounding disadvantage. Research consistently links childhood adversity, trauma and cognitive vulnerability to offending behaviour and to the cycle of reoffending that follows early contact with the justice system.
Know Your Brain addresses these root causes directly. By building neurological self-knowledge and cognitive skills, the program supports young people to interrupt automatic reactions, make safer choices and engage more constructively in education, relationships and daily routines — both inside detention and beyond it.
Know Your Brain meets young people at a pivotal moment in their lives and gives them something no punitive measure can — knowledge of themselves and belief in their own capacity to change.
Making a measurable difference
Harvey's Story
*Name has been changed to protect privacy.
Harvey was 16 years old and serving his third sentence when he first attended a Know Your Brain session. In that first session, he learned about the amygdala and the fight or flight response. It was the first time anyone had explained to him why he reacted the way he did.
The program also gave Harvey new understanding of the impact of concussions he had sustained, the effects of substance use on the brain's structure and function, and the role of sleep in supporting the brain's natural healing processes. Each piece of knowledge connected directly to his own life.
In a single program, Harvey moved from someone who had never understood his own reactions to someone who could name them, explain them and commit to responding differently. That is the power of brain health knowledge delivered at the right moment, in the right way.
"When I get out, I'm gonna be good. If I hear a siren or see a cop car, I'm just gonna keep doing my thing."
"I make all my dumb decisions when I'm on drugs. But I'm staying away from them now. I don't want holes in my brain and end up in a mental ward."
Partner with us
Know Your Brain is available for delivery in youth detention settings and is open to partnership with government agencies, justice system partners and funders seeking evidence-informed, culturally grounded approaches to reducing reoffending and supporting young people toward better futures.
Email us at admin@yiliyapinya.org.au →