Children pick up on the energy of the adults in their life. The level of activation in our nervous system has a profound physiological effect on them. It matters that we take care of ourselves in the moment a child is struggling before us, that we ground, and breathe, and notice (see previous blog). It also matters how we are taking care of ourselves at every other moment. Here are 3 more important choices we need to make in order to heal a child: Read more

WAKE UP PARENTS!!! — Your Child is Stressed!

5 Ways You Can Heal Your Child

I am so excited to announce the availability for your listening pleasure of a recent teleseminar I gave to parents and educators on the 5 Ways You Can Heal Your Child. Please check it out. Ongoing news, information, and resources are at your fingertips!

There are 3 powerful ways to stimulate in children their own natural healing mechanism. That is, the parasympathetic branch of their autonomic nervous system that causes immediate relaxation and calm. Read more

What we do NOT do when trying to heal a child can be as important as what we do. Though we have love in our hearts and good intentions, we sometimes inadvertently do things that can make things worse, not better. Here are 3 things that you do NOT want to do when trying to heal a child: Read more

There are 3 important first steps for YOU to take when trying to heal a child: Read more

WAKE UP PARENTS!!! — Your Child is Stressed!

5 Ways You Can Heal Your Child

Dear Concerned Parent and/or Guardian,

On April 29th, 2010 at 3pm PST/6pm EST, I will be hosting an important, ground-breaking teleclass that will give parents 5 powerful ways to heal their child. If you are a parent of a misdiagnosed, stressed, traumatized, or otherwise misunderstood child, you need to be on this important call as I reveal 5 important approaches that have saved many of the families and children I have worked with. It is my dream that every family has access to this important information. Our children deserve it!

- Dr. Reggie Melrose

A concerned father contacted me recently for advice regarding his son diagnosed with ODD. From the details of the situation it was clear once again that what the neuroscience has to say on the subject is most important to understanding how to intervene (read the work of Bruce Perry, M.D., Ph.D. for more). The brain, as well as the behavior the brain mediates, develops in response to experience. That means that how we, as parents and educators, interact with children is what makes the difference. Adults are the ones with fully developed brains who are better equipped neurally to do things differently. If we can be that safe base for our children by not getting pulled into what some call the “trauma vortex” of the problem, then situations deescalate and the development of negative neural circuitry is prevented. Read more

Parents and educators everywhere, please visit the website www.racetonowhere.com, find the film, see it, sign the petition, and join the movement. You will save your own children and children everywhere from a nationwide educational system that isn’t working for anyone. Teachers no longer love their jobs, children no longer love to learn, and the price we are paying as a culture and a society is higher than we can imagine. We haven’t seen the worst of the fallout from “No Child Left Behind,” but it is coming, and it will astound us. Read more

Parents beware. Our children look like they’re holding it together in Kindergarten through 2nd grade, but there’s a growing phenomenon occurring now called third-grade burnout. By the beginning of third grade, many of our children, exposed too soon to too much academic material grow weary of the system. They become run down, stressed out, and actually experience a burnout that many of us adults know too well in our own lives. Though they want to be “big boys” and “big girls” that can do homework like their older siblings and friends, they soon tire of the demands and expectations that their brain isn’t ready for yet. The neuroscience points to plenty of play as essential to brain growth and development, yet there is very little time for play in a system that promotes “teaching to the test” – statewide testing that insists on “leaving no child behind” – whatever that means. Read more

My heart is aching a little more than usual this week. Another reminder of the fatal effects of stress and trauma in children leaves me feeling more committed than ever to delivering the message I do. As parents and teachers, we can prevent such a loss. Young children need nothing less than we do to experience well-being – a sense of belonging, that we matter to someone, that we have value, a meaningful role to play, a contribution to make. We all need experiences of success and mastery to feel capable, competent, and good enough just the way we are. We also need to feel connected in a positive way to other people, nature, animals, and a community that cares. Read more