The ABC's of Self-Regulation
The ABC’s of Self-Regulation is a workshop created for children in grades 3 to 7
Children in this modern age face a constantly stimulating world with numerous responsibilities and expectations they must fulfill and constant pressure to set goals and succeed at earlier and earlier ages. With parents who are stressed and overwhelmed themselves, decreasing opportunities for social engagement due to constant use of technology, and challenges like cyber bullying, many school aged children are struggling with anxiety, depression, ADHD, ODD and other mental health struggles. Although these disorders have conventionally been thought of as disorders of the mind, they are in fact often disorders that are rooted in the physiology of the nervous system and the survival responses of Flight, Fight and Freeze. They are a result of a nervous system that is constantly perceiving the world as an unsafe place.
Self-Regulation is defined as control [of oneself] by oneself. The ability to self-regulate is the ability to modulate our physiological and emotional arousal in response to stress, change and challenge. It is something that is meant to be inherent in mammals, but very often, due to past experiences, in humans that capacity has decreased, has been lost, or never developed in the first place and we therefore must use purposeful actions to sooth and settle ourselves in times of stress. When a child lacks the capacity to self-regulate they will become easily overwhelmed and undoubtedly lose control of themselves, reacting instead of responding when facing challenges in their lives. They will therefore exhibit behaviours that will result in them being labeled as defiant or rebellious, angry, hyper or unfocused, unmotivated, withdrawn, negative, stubborn, complainers, tentative and the list goes on. In stressful situations their emotional systems become hijacked by their physiology and these behavioural responses are therefore beyond the child's control. Because the physiology is not taken into account, behavioural and cognitive interventions are most often unsuccessful. Furthermore, because educators and parents, often through no fault of their own, lack the understanding of the physiological changes underlying such behaviours, they lack the ability to respond appropriately in these moments, and that lack of attunement only further exacerbates these behaviours.
The ability to self-regulate is something that can be developed and strengthened with the purposeful and consistent use of actions that down-regulate our nervous system, and over time, our inherent capacity to self-regulate can return. This process begins with understanding the science of the nervous system and learning a few simple tools of self-regulation that can be easily integrated into our everyday. Developing this ability is not just for children who struggle, as the capacity to sooth and settle, to self-regulate, is essential for any young person (and adult) who is facing the everyday challenges of living in our modern world. Sometimes our nervous system needs a little help to remind it what it is meant to do.
The ABC's of Self-Regulation will explore:
-What do we mean by the term overwhelmed?
-How does this impact our control and choice in our lives?
-What do we mean by Self-Regulation?
-What is the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)?
-Why do we describe our nervous system as a cup or container and why is this important to Self-Regulation?
-What are the different states of the ANS and how do we experience ourselves in each one?
-What are some tools of Self-Regulation that we can use in our daily lives to help us settle ourselves so we can feel more present and more in control?
The workshop will include both lecture and interactive components, including asking the students to share examples from their own lives that relate to the topics being explored as well as practicing the tools of Self-Regulation that are taught in the workshop.
Here is a great article written by a colleague on Self-Regulation. And yes, I agree with her. I do think Self-Regulation is the most important thing in the world, and the earlier we work to develop it, the better.
https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/why-self-regulation-is-most-important-thing-in-world-0807175
Please contact me with any questions or to discuss scheduling this workshop for your students
Self-Regulation is defined as control [of oneself] by oneself. The ability to self-regulate is the ability to modulate our physiological and emotional arousal in response to stress, change and challenge. It is something that is meant to be inherent in mammals, but very often, due to past experiences, in humans that capacity has decreased, has been lost, or never developed in the first place and we therefore must use purposeful actions to sooth and settle ourselves in times of stress. When a child lacks the capacity to self-regulate they will become easily overwhelmed and undoubtedly lose control of themselves, reacting instead of responding when facing challenges in their lives. They will therefore exhibit behaviours that will result in them being labeled as defiant or rebellious, angry, hyper or unfocused, unmotivated, withdrawn, negative, stubborn, complainers, tentative and the list goes on. In stressful situations their emotional systems become hijacked by their physiology and these behavioural responses are therefore beyond the child's control. Because the physiology is not taken into account, behavioural and cognitive interventions are most often unsuccessful. Furthermore, because educators and parents, often through no fault of their own, lack the understanding of the physiological changes underlying such behaviours, they lack the ability to respond appropriately in these moments, and that lack of attunement only further exacerbates these behaviours.
The ability to self-regulate is something that can be developed and strengthened with the purposeful and consistent use of actions that down-regulate our nervous system, and over time, our inherent capacity to self-regulate can return. This process begins with understanding the science of the nervous system and learning a few simple tools of self-regulation that can be easily integrated into our everyday. Developing this ability is not just for children who struggle, as the capacity to sooth and settle, to self-regulate, is essential for any young person (and adult) who is facing the everyday challenges of living in our modern world. Sometimes our nervous system needs a little help to remind it what it is meant to do.
The ABC's of Self-Regulation will explore:
-What do we mean by the term overwhelmed?
-How does this impact our control and choice in our lives?
-What do we mean by Self-Regulation?
-What is the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)?
-Why do we describe our nervous system as a cup or container and why is this important to Self-Regulation?
-What are the different states of the ANS and how do we experience ourselves in each one?
-What are some tools of Self-Regulation that we can use in our daily lives to help us settle ourselves so we can feel more present and more in control?
The workshop will include both lecture and interactive components, including asking the students to share examples from their own lives that relate to the topics being explored as well as practicing the tools of Self-Regulation that are taught in the workshop.
Here is a great article written by a colleague on Self-Regulation. And yes, I agree with her. I do think Self-Regulation is the most important thing in the world, and the earlier we work to develop it, the better.
https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/why-self-regulation-is-most-important-thing-in-world-0807175
Please contact me with any questions or to discuss scheduling this workshop for your students