GPS Dr. Bruce Perry joins to discuss trauma, resilience and healing

On Oct 11, 2023, the Glenbard Parent Series hosted child psychiatrist and neuroscientist Bruce Perry MD in a program based on his bestseller “What Happened to You: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience and Healing”.

Many people have likely asked themselves, "Why did I do that?" or "Why can't they just control their behavior?" When questioning emotions and behavior, it's easy to place the blame on ourselves or hold ourselves and those around us to an impossible standard. 

Perry offered a groundbreaking shift from asking, “What’s wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?” This puts the focus on having compassion for other people and ourselves. It’s a subtle but profound shift in an approach to trauma. It also allows an individual to understand their past in order to clear a path to their future, opening the door to resilience and healing. With these powerful insights, individuals can strengthen their self-worth and change their lives.

Perry is the principal of the Neurosequential Network and a professor in the department of psychiatry at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University and La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. He is the author of "The Boy Who Was Raised As a Dog," a bestseller based on his work with maltreated children, and "Born For Love: Why Empathy is Essential and Endangered." Perry's most recent book, "What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing” was co-authored with Oprah Winfrey and released in 2021.

Check out MEDspiration Podcast with Bruce Perry, M.D., Ph.D. | What Happened to You? | Using Neuroscience to Cultivate Resilience VIDEO HERE

Take-Aways

Glenbard Assistant Director for Teaching and Learning Mike Fumagalli co-hosted the event and shared the following takeaways:  

• Emotional regulation is the prerequisite to learning and productive communication. The cerebral cortex, where all thinking and processing takes place, is unavailable if a child is dysregulated and under duress in any way. Helping a child to regulate themselves is central to making their brain available for learning. 
• Even a fully-regulated brain only processes and absorbs 85% of the information being presented. This means that under the most optimal conditions when a person is fully regulated, their brain still will not absorb and process 100% of the information. Conversely, a dysregulated brain only will process and absorb 10% of the information and require 4 times the repetition in order to accurately consume and apply that information. 
• Neuroscience has taught us a great deal about how the brain functions when communicating with others. Emotional contagion is the idea that an emotionally dysregulated individual will project dysregulation onto others. This means that only an emotionally regulated person is capable of calming and communicating with a dysregulated one. In order for us to have the most optimal outcomes when working with others, we must be emotionally regulated. Ways we can promote emotional regulation are repetitive, patterned, somatosensory experiences - walking, riding a bike, swimming, listening to music at 60-80 beats per minute, drawing, knitting, etc. This is why these things can calm a highly stimulated parasympathetic nervous system. A common goal for everyone is to have strategies for establishing emotional regulation and equilibrium, especially if others around us are experiencing something different. 

Resources

Dr. Bruce Perry's web site HERE

Dr. Bruce Perry on How to Transform Pain Into Power | Super Soul | Oprah Winfrey Network VIDEO HERE

What Happened to You? Summary (Animated) — Oprah Winfrey’s Strategies for Healing From Trauma VIDEO HERE

Book Study for What Happened to You HERE

Trauma Research Foundation web site HERE

Neurosequential Network web site HERE

You can find Dr. Perry on Social Media: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brduncper/ Facebook (NSN): https://www.facebook.com/neurosequent...\ Facebook (CTA): https://www.facebook.com/The-ChildTra...

Dr. Lisa Damour discusses teens’ emotional lives at GPS event on September 13, 2023

On September 13 the Glenbard Parent Series hosted clinical psychologist and best-selling author Lisa Damour in a program based on her most recent bestseller "The Emotional Lives of Teenagers: Raising Connected, Capable and Compassionate Adolescents"

Powerful emotions come with the territory during adolescence. Damour shares what parents and caregivers can expect in the course of adolescent development and when it’s time to be concerned. Damour's advice provides care-givers: how to approach teen challenges such as friction at home, the pull of social media, risky behavior and navigating friendships; practical information to support teens through the transformational journey into adulthood; the best ways to stay connected and create the kind of relationship that adolescents need and want to be happy and healthy. 

Damour is the author of three New York Times bestsellers: “Untangled,” “Under Pressure,” and “The Emotional Lives of Teenagers.” She co-hosts the Ask Lisa podcast; works in collaboration with UNICEF; and is recognized as a thought leader by the American Psychological Association. 

Click HERE for the Q and A recording from the event.

Take Away

Glenbard District 87 Superintendent David Larson hosted the event and shared the following takeaway:

“Dr. Damour offered practical research based advise and helped us dispel pervasive myths on the psychology of adolescence.  Mental health is not about feeling good, it’s about having the right feelings at the right time and being able to manage those feelings effectively-observe what works best for your child.  Emotions in the teen years are powerful, and amplified  more than any other time of life. Dr  Damour explained why the intense feelings -even negative  ones- are an important part of teen development It’s our job to be a steady  (non-reactive) presence in the lives of children, which is not easy.  Be there to collect their ‘emotional garbage’.  The strongest force for mental health is a strong relationship with a caring adult. Offer empathy, give them autonomy, and be ready to talk when they are. The aim of our work is more about insight - we tend to breeze right past offering empathy and instead serve up reassurance. Tolerate their distress-they can’t tolerate it if we can’t tolerate it. This is how they grow".

Resources

Damour on WGN Radio, joining Jon Hansen, in for John Landecker HERE

Damour on CBS: The Emotional Lives of Teenagers” explains how adolescent feelings can be embraced and not avoided HERE

Lisa Damour Website HERE

Lisa Damour Podcast HERE

Discussion Guide for Parents HERE

Discussion Guide for Educators HERE

TIME magazine: How to Help Teenagers Stay Motivated at School by Damour HERE

FOLLOW Dr. Damour on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, the New York Times, CBS News, and subscribe to her podcast Ask Lisa: The Psychology of Parenting.

READ Dr. Damour's NYT bestsellers Untangled and Under Pressure and pre-order her NEW BOOK The Emotional Lives of Teenagers.

Celebrated journalist Jennifer Wallace addresses performance mindset and toxic stress

On August 29th, the Glenbard Parent Series hosted Jennifer Wallace, investigative journalist and author for a program titled Never Enough: Inspiring Balanced Achievement, Self-Confidence and the Power of Mattering. Wallace is the author of "Never Enough.”  Wallace was in conversation with former GPS speakers Lori Gottlieb at noon and Julie Lythcott-Haims at 7pm.

Today's students face unprecedented pressure to succeed, and they are absorbing the cultural message that their value is based on accomplishments. Wallace provides a toolkit for positive change and a practical framework to help young people understand they are inherently valued and loved. She offers tips to enhance kids’ resilience, self-confidence and psychological security so they can thrive. 

Wallace is a celebrated journalist, formerly with 60 Minutes, and author of the book “Never Enough: When Achievement Pressure Becomes Toxic – and What We Can Do About It.” 

Click HERE for a recording of the program with Jennifer Wallace in conversation with Lori Gottlieb and a Q&A with Julie Lythcott-Haims

Take Away

DuPage County Regional Office of Education Superintendent Amber Quirk co-hosted the event and shared the following takeaway quotes from the speakers:

 "The best thing we can do for our children is take care of our own wellbeing. Never worry alone, rather, have a 'go to' committee for yourself. Strive to be a good enough --not perfect — parent.

 As we check in with kids at the end of a school day, lead with, ‘What did you have for lunch?’ to send a subtle signal that we see them as more than a number, grade or performance. Schedule stressful conversations so they are not happening daily (e.g., grades or college preparation). Talk about the difference between healthy and unhealthy competition. We want our kids to focus on wise striving, and we need to normalize difficult feelings. Share your own failure stories to build connections.

Encourage volunteerism and gratitude to give the child a deeper sense of mattering, and teach healthy interdependence by letting them know you can work together on difficult issues. Make your home a 'mattering haven' where children feel they matter outside the exterior recognitions or achievements. Then, help them shift their lens outward to find ways to make others feel valued as well.”

Resources

Visit Wallace's website

View the Mattering Movement website

Read "Forget independence. Tech your kids this instead.," Wallace's Aug. 14, 2023 op-ed for the Washington Post

Watch Wallace's Aug. 24, 2023 appearance on Good Morning America

Watch or listen to Wallace's Aug. 22, 2023 appearance on the Ask Lisa podcast, hosted by Lisa Damour, Ph.D. (FAN '19, '20, 21, '23)

Read "The Power of Mattering at Work," Wallace's Dec. 1, 2022 essay for the Wall Street Journal

Watch Wallace's Aug. 22, 2023 appearance on CBS Mornings

Read an August 30 interview with Wallace published in Greater Good Magazine

Visit Julie Lytchcott-Haim's website 

Visit Lori Gottlieb's website

Psychologists Dr. Pam Dawson and Dr Richard Guare present strategies for building executive function skills

On August 24, 2023 the Glenbard Parent Series hosted psychologists Dr. Pam Dawson and Dr Richard Guare in programs based on their best selling book “Smart but Scattered: The Revolutionary 'Executive Skills' Approach to Helping Kids Reach Their Potential”.

If you’re the caregiver of a smart but scattered student, trying to help them become a self-sufficient young adult may feel like a battle. This program provided adults with science-based strategies for promoting a child's independence by building their executive function skills — the fundamental brain-based abilities needed to get organized, stay focused, and control impulses and emotions. Dawson and Guare offered tips to help identify a student's strengths and weaknesses and enhance their problem-solving skills while avoiding micromanaging, cajoling and ineffective punishments.

With more than 40 years of clinical practice, Dawson and her colleague, licensed psychologist and board-certified behavior analyst, Guare, have worked with thousands of children and teens who struggle at home and in school. Their numerous award-winning books on this topic include “Smart but Scattered: The Revolutionary Executive Functioning Skills Approach to Helping Kids Reach Their Potential” and “Smart But Scattered Teens.”

Click HERE for a recording of the program.

TAKE-AWAY

Assistant Director for Student Services for Special Education, Tina Saviano, co-hosted the event and shared the following takeaway quotes from our distinguished authorities.

“Frontal brain systems, and therefore executive skills, will require approximately 25 years to develop fully. Adolescents cannot rely solely on their own frontal lobes and executive skills to regulate behavior. The solution is to lend them ours, acting as surrogate frontal lobes for our children. By late adolescence, our children must meet one fundamental condition: they must function with a reasonable degree of independence-guide them on their way. Your teen is probably trying hard—to do everything his or her peers are expected to do as they face increasing responsibilities. But it’s a daily struggle when the teen has a deficiency in what are called executive skills, the functions of our brains and thought processes that help us regulate our behavior, set goals and meet them, and balance demands and desires, wants, needs, and have-tos. While motivation can play a significant role in teens’ behavior, it’s important to recognize that some behaviors reflect a skill weakness rather than a lack of motivation. Receiving three pieces of positive feedback for each piece of negative or corrective feedback can produce positive behavior change all by itself.”

RESOURCES

Web site for Smart, but Scattered Kids HERE

Link to Practical Tools to go with Smart But Scattered (an amazing list of questionnaires and templates) HERE

Link to Resources on Test Taking, 5 Paragraph Essays and Long Term Project Planning HERE

Link to the PowerPoint presentation of the GPS event HERE

Smart But Scattered with Dr. Peg Dawson - February 16, 2023 at Perrysburg Schools video HERE

Books by Drs. Guare and Dawson HERE

Rosalind Wiseman returns to GPS to discuss social dynamics of teens’ lives

On April 11 the Glenbard Parent Series hosted author Rosalind Wiseman in a program titled Supporting Our Kids Through the Inevitable Ups and Downs of Teen Relationships, based on her best seller Queens Bees and Wannabees.

 Friendships are essential to the mental and emotional health of teens. Wiseman returned to GPS to discuss social dynamics, friendships, crushes and dating. She empowers parents and caregivers to guide young people through the inevitable ups and downs in their social lives. Wiseman outlined how adults can help teens establish and maintain boundaries. She also discussed strategies that support communication and how to avoid feedback that will shut down a conversation. 

Wiseman is a New York Times bestselling author whose publications include “Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and the New Realities of Girl World,” (which was the basis for the movie “Mean Girls”) and “Masterminds & Wingmen: Helping Our Boys Cope with Schoolyard Power, Locker-Room Tests, Girlfriends, and the New Rules of Boy World.” 

Click HERE for an extended Q and A  from the event

Take Away

Mike Fumagalli  Assistant Director of Teaching and Learning hosted the event and shared the following takeaway:

 

"Ms. Wiseman helped us understand the complexity, and intense feeling around friendships and the predicament of adolescence that makes friendships so key. As adults, we tend to give advice based on what we think should motivate kids but, in reality, does not. Young people will work to avoid shame, embarrassment and humiliation at all costs while seeking to add contribution to their group/community.

As parents, our job is to help our children navigate the tumultuous experience of growing up, using their emotions as information, and using relationships to maintain the dignity of others. We have to work on validating our childrens' need to create a sense of belonging and use teachable moments to be constructive versus destructive. Young people are the subject-matter experts of their lives and it is our responsibility to model and teach them what healthy relationships look like. 

 

Finally, emotions are real but not permanent. We can change the way we feel. Teaching young people to harness that power is key. Listening to others means being prepared to be changed by what we hear. As parents, we don’t have to fix everything. In fact, that does more harm than good. However, we can utilize challenging times to support our children's discomfort and work toward growth."

Resources

Notes from this GPS event with Rosalind Wiseman, April 11, 2023 HERE

Cultures of Dignity/Rosalind Wiseman website HERE

Cultures of Dignity Blog  HERE

Where Parents Talk: Deconstructing Dignity and Respect with Rosalind Wiseman  VIDEO HERE

Avenues The World School: Rosalind Wiseman - Queen Bees & Masterminds  VIDEO HERE

Dr. Devorah Heitner offers tips to help young people manage their digital world at March 7 2023 GPS event

On March 7 the Glenbard Parent Series hosted Screenwise author and cultural historian Dr. Devorah Heitner in a program titled Growing Up in Public: Helping Kids Navigate Privacy and Reputation Online.

Heitner returned to GPS to discuss her most recent book, “Growing Up Public.” Her presentation guided adults in helping young people, who have a digital reputation/footprint, develop healthy boundaries and safeguard privacy in an increasingly screen-centered world. She offered tips that encourage young people to generate content that is constructive and sensitive to the feelings of others.

Heitner is a media technology specialist and founded Raising Digital Natives. Her first book, “Screenwise: Helping Kids Thrive (and Survive) in their Digital World,” was  written for parents and educators seeking advice on how to help children flourish in a world of constant connectedness. 

Click HERE for a Q and A of the program.

Take Away 

Marquardt School District 15  Communications Coordinator Lindsay Diehl co hosted the event and shared the following takeaway:

Dr. Heitner's incredible research in online media shows us how important it is to encourage positive content, healthy boundaries, and open conversations with our children about their digital reputation. Since the pandemic, technology has trickled down to younger ages. During this time of learning about their own digital footprint, we should allow our young people "do-overs", while we as adults model doing the right thing. Friends are a real, two-way relationship, but social media followers are not. Knowing that there is someone on the other side of the screen is an important lesson in empathy. Stay calm and give grace during this heavily digital age. It's critical that we show compassion to them and to ourselves.

Resources

Devorah Heitner's web site HERE

Devorah Heitner's Instagram HERE 

HEITNER'S - A Dozen Tips To Help Your Family Thrive in the Digital Age Raising Digital Natives HERE

The Parental Compass Podcast: Raising Children in a Digital Age with guest Dr. Devorah Heitner (2022) HERE

Digital Families Podcast: Managing Your Child's Screentime with Dr. Heitner (2021) HERE

TIME for Kids article: 8 Questions for Devorah Heitner, October 12, 2021 HERE

Relationship School Podcast: Screen Time & Keeping Your Kids Safe Online - Devorah Heitner, Ph.D. (2021) HERE

List of articles by Dr. Devorah Heitner with links  HERE

The Challenges of Raising a Digital Native | Devorah Heitner, Ph.D. | TEDxNaperville (2014)  HERE

GPS event with Dr. Jessica Minahan presents Practical Strategies for Reducing Anxiety and Challenging Behavior in Students

The Glenbard Parent Series: (GPS) Navigating Healthy Families presented Practical Strategies for Reducing Anxiety and Challenging Behavior in Students with Jessica Minahan during two webinars on  Tuesday, March 14.

With anxiety and challenging behaviors on the rise, adults need effective and easy-to-implement strategies to help young people process critical thoughts and interrupt negative behavior patterns. Using case studies, humorous stories and examples of common challenging situations, Minahan delivered a systematic approach to enhance adolescent coping skills and provide tools and interventions for reducing students’ anxiety and increasing their self-regulation and flexible thinking. 

Minahan is a licensed and board-certified behavior analyst, special educator and internationally known school consultant. She works with students who struggle with emotional and behavioral disabilities, anxiety disorders, high-functioning autism or mental health issues. She is the author of “The Behavior Code: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Teaching the Most Challenging Students,” and “The Behavior Code Companion: Strategies, Tools, and Interventions for Supporting Students with Anxiety-Related or Oppositional Behavior.” 

TAKE -AWAY 

Mary Furbush, Executive Director CASE: Cooperative Association for Special Education shared the following take-away:

"Dr. Minahan shared her systematic approach for understanding the cause and pattern of anxiety and difficult behaviors, which are often due to a lack of underdeveloped skills.  Students behave if they can. Misbehavior is a symptom of an underlying cause, and that behavior communicates a need. We should look for the patterns occurring before and after the behavior. We should ask ourselves, What is the student getting from the behavior? Anxiety often follows, which can then lead to distorted perceptions, inflexible thinking, and working memory challenges. When anxiety goes down, the ability to acquire skills goes up. Technology has impacted the skill of waiting, delayed gratification and taken time away from the development of social skills. We should focus on reinforcing positive behaviors, offer choices, provide the rationale first, and validate their feelings to assist with de-escalation. We should say "pause" not "stop" to ease transition and focus on the development of skills over incentives. Lastly, the only behavior we adults can control is our own."

RESOURCES

Handout: Parents-Practical Strategies to Reduce Anxiety in Kids HERE

Handout: Educators-Practical Strategies to Reduce Anxiety and Challenging Behavior in Students HERE

Jessica Minahan's Collection of School Resources Includes academic and social emotional resources for educators HERE

Jessica Minahan's Collection of Social/Emotional Resources and more HERE

Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast episode #107 with Jessica Minahan on "The Behavior Code: Understanding/Teaching the Most Challenging Students" HERE

Learn more about Jessica Minahan (website) HERE

Learn more about the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast HERE

20 Tips to Help De-escalate Interactions With Anxious or Defiant Students with Minahan HERE

Behaviorbabe Podcast: Jessica Minahan on Treating Anxiety & Trauma in Public Schools HERE

Behaviorbabe Podcast: Jessica Minahan on Understanding the Impact of Anxiety on Behavior HERE

A Summary of Minahan’s Work:  A F.A.I.R. Plan by Elise M. Frangos, Ed.D.  HERE

Gina Biegel shares skills for staying positive, reducing stress and living your best life

The Glenbard Parent Series: (GPS) Navigating Healthy Families will presented Take in the Good: Skills for Staying Positive, Reducing Stress and Living Your Best Life with Gina Biegel for two programs on Wednesday, Feb. 15 via Zoom. 

Whether young people encounter sensory overload from electronic devices, cyberbullying or academic pressures, they would benefit from practicing self-care.

Choosing to focus on positive experiences has beneficial lasting benefits. Acquiring skills in mindfulness techniques will help young people feel empowered to take control of their well-being. Making self-care practices part of their routine, teens will discover life-hacks that bring relief during even the toughest days. Biegel’s teaching will help students increase self-esteem and live life with renewed hope and enthusiasm.

Biegel is a psychotherapist, researcher, speaker and author who specializes in mindfulness-based work with adolescents. She is founder of Stressed Teens, which offers mindfulness-based stress reduction for teens and author of several books, including “Be Mindful & Stress Less.”

Video of this event HERE

Takeaway

Assistant Principal of Student Services Debra Cartwright co -hosted the event and shared the following takeaway:

"Stress is our body responding to a threat or demand -it provides us with information, something is not the way it should be. Next identify the best way to support yourself, utilize healthy resources (gratitude, letting go, music, spending time with positive people exercise, asking for help, self care-it is not selfish).  Mindfulness is noticing your thoughts, and feelings in the present moment without harmful judgement-giving us time to pause-reflect, rather than react.  We get to choose where we put our attention. We can train/change our brain by tilting our attention to positive experiences. Where attention goes energy flows. Even in the hardest moments, remember to let your child know they are loved every day, give them the benefit of the doubt. Help them feel safe, secure, connected, and that they are enough. Love is not conditional".

Resources

Stressed Teens web site: HERE

Stressed Teens Toolbox:  HERE

U.S. News article with Gina Biegel: Managing High School Stress HERE

Mindful Kids Peace Summit interview with Gina Biegel of Stressed Teens VIDEO HERE

Dr. Catherine Newman discusses essential skills for young people at Feb 8 GPS events

 

The Glenbard Parent Series: (GPS) Navigating Healthy Families presented Essential Communication and Life Skills: A Kid's Guide to Growing Up with author Catherine Newman in two webinars on February 8, via Zoom. 

Dr. Catherine Newman, witty parenting writer and etiquette columnist, provided adults with tips and advice to nudge children into independence and teach them how to master chores, express themselves clearly and behave generously toward others. 

Newman has authored novels, nonfiction and articles about children, parents, teenagers and relationships. She is the etiquette columnist at Real Simple and the academic department coordinator of the Creative Writing Center at Amherst College.

Dr Newman shared the habits and skills we need to teach our children, and practice ourselves:

• Look up, and put the phone down. 
• Teach your child to be curious about others and lean into your curiosity about them. 
• Pay attention -think about what it feels like when someone is really listening.
• Give everyone the benefit of the doubt, assume the best, give others the space to make a mistake.
• Get good at compromising. Other people are different than you. 
• Problem solve rather than battling it out. Practice saying 'maybe I was wrong'. Cultivate an attitude of helpfulness, be your most generous self. You will make mistakes, apologize and move forward. The parent-child relationship 
• Your child is always growing, and changing -practice flexibility. Work to build trust, your relationship is more important than being right.

The full-length video of this event can be found on our YouTube channel HERE

TAKEAWAY

Glenbard Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources Josh Chambers co -hosted the event and shared the following takeaway:

"Dr Newman shared the habits and skills we need to teach our children, and practice ourselves.

 Be present. Pay attention -think about what it feels like when someone is really listening. Look up, and put the phone down. Teach your child to be curious about others and lean into your curiosity about them. Give everyone the benefit of the doubt, assume the best, and give others the space to make a mistake. Get good at compromising. Other people are different than you. Problem solve rather than battling it out. Practice saying 'maybe I was wrong'. Cultivate an attitude of helpfulness, be your most generous self. You will make mistakes, apologize and move forward. The parent-child relationship child is always growing, and changing -practice flexibility. Work to build trust,your relationship is more important than being right." 

RESOURCES

Catherine Newman’s website HERE

The Morning Books Show: What Can I Say By Catherine Newman HERE

Shauna Shapiro discusses enhancing well-being and increasing joy

On November 9 the Glenbard Parent Series welcomed clinical psychologist and internationally recognized expert in mindfulness and self-compassion Shauna Shapiro PhD, in a program titled Rewire the Brain for Calm, Clarity and Joy based on her bestselling books. She also shared practices that can rewire the brain for motivation, contentment and tranquility. The practice of mindfulness can reduce emotional reactivity and help teens and adults manage stress, enhance self-compassion and make healthy life choices.

Shapiro is a professor at Santa Clara University and an internationally recognized expert in mindfulness. Shapiro has published three critically acclaimed books, including: “Good Morning, I Love You,” “The Art and Science of Mindfulness: Integrating Mindfulness into Psychology and the Helping Professions,” and “Mindful Discipline: A Loving Approach to Setting Limits & Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child.”

Video of this event HERE

TAKE AWAY

Dr. Joseph Williams, Superintendent of Queen Bee School District 16 cohosted the program and shared the following takeaway:

Physical fitness AND mental fitness are powerful tools with significant health and learning benefits. The practice of mindfulness is a great tool to enhance mental fitness and re-architect the structure of your brain to decrease stress, increase concentration, and strengthen your sense of belonging. Mindfulness is made up of 3 elements; intention (connecting us to our hopes/values, what matters most, guiding us to what we care about), attention (being in the present moment,)

and attitude (having an openness to kindness, dismissing negative and intrusive thoughts).  Whatever has happened can't be changed, the important thing is what you do now. It is never too late to rewire our brain-you can start anytime. What you practice makes you stronger. Our children benefit when we treat ourselves with compassion, model gratitude, offer unconditional love, healthy boundaries, expect mistakes and commit to being present, listening deeply to our children moment by moment.

 

RESOURCES/VIDEO LINKS

Q&A from GPS Rewiring the Brain for Calm, Clarity and Joy with Shauna Shapiro 11-9-22  HERE

Shauna Shapiro: Mindfulness Meditation and the Brain | Greater Good Science Center HERE

Shauna Shapiro: The IAA Model of Mindfulness | Greater Good Science Center HERE

The Power of Mindfulness: What You Practice Grows Stronger | Shauna Shapiro | TEDx Washington Square HERE

Dr. Shauna Shapiro website HERE