The story of The MEHRIT Centre begins with Dr. Stuart Shanker and decades of research and interdisciplinary thinking about human development, stress and self-regulation.
An especially important chapter in that history was Stuart’s relationship with Canadian philanthropist Milt Harris during his time as Director of the Milton and Ethel Harris Research Initiative (MEHRI) at York University. Made possible through Milt and Ethel’s extraordinary philanthropy, MEHRI brought together an interdisciplinary team doing remarkable work in child development, including groundbreaking research with autistic children and their families that deepened understanding of individual differences, self-regulation and the vital role of relationships.
That research was significant, but it was part of a much longer journey. The ideas that would eventually become Shanker Self-Reg® had roots stretching back through decades of Stuart’s work in philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, neurobiology and child development and continued to evolve through research, practice and collaboration.
At the heart of that work was a question that still drives us today: What changes when we deepen our understanding of what is happening beneath behaviour?
The MEHRIT Centre was created to take that evolving understanding out into the world.
Our name deliberately carries forward the legacy of Milt and Ethel Harris and the research their generosity helped make possible. But the vision for TMC was broader: to keep growing and evolving this understanding of stress, self-regulation and human development, and to explore what it could mean for all of us. We wanted to bring the science into the lives of educators, parents, professionals and communities, and help people discover what it could mean for how we understand ourselves, one another and the people we support.
As TMC grew, so did the ways we found to bring Self-Reg to life. The questions, challenges and experiences people brought to their learning helped us see where ideas needed more unpacking, where connections needed to be made clearer, and what people needed to take a deeper understanding of Self-Reg into their own lives and work.
That has shaped how we teach, how we create learning experiences and resources, and how The MEHRIT Centre has continued to grow.
TMC is a learning organization, but at heart we are also a relationship-based organization.
We listen. We stay curious. We learn alongside people. Over the years, questions and experiences from educators, families, professionals and communities have helped shape our courses, resources, tools and how we help people deepen their understanding of Self-Reg.
Our reach has grown far beyond what we could have imagined. People in more than 60 countries have learned with TMC, yet in many ways we have held onto our grassroots beginnings. We are a committed team connected to a much wider community of people who care deeply about this work and are finding their own ways to bring Self-Reg into classrooms, homes, organizations and communities.
What connects us is a belief that this understanding can make a difference. For us, Self-Reg has never simply been knowledge to pass along. We want it to change what happens when one human being encounters another who is struggling. We want people to be able to see beyond behaviour, recognize stress, understand what a nervous system may be communicating, and respond in ways that support regulation, connection and growth.
That is what The MEHRIT Centre was created to help make possible. And it is still what drives us today.
The MEHRIT Centre was established by Dr. Stuart Shanker in 2012, creating a home for this evolving understanding of stress and self-regulation and for the work of bringing it into people’s lives.
In 2015, Dr. Susan Hopkins joined TMC as Executive Director, beginning an important new stage in the Centre’s growth. An educator and system leader with experience across schools, early childhood, inclusion, research and public policy, Susan brought a particular focus to translating Stuart’s evolving thinking into meaningful learning and practice.
Working closely with Stuart, Susan led the development of the learning architecture and organizational capacity that became TMC as we know it today. Facilitated certificate programs, professional learning, online courses, resources, publications, tools and partnerships grew alongside an expanding team of educators, facilitators, writers, designers and other professionals committed to bringing Self-Reg into people’s lives.
Through those years, Stuart’s thinking continued to evolve too. Shanker Self-Reg® has never been a fixed program or a finished body of knowledge. Stuart has continued to follow the science, drawing together insights from neuroscience, physiology, psychology, education, child development and philosophy to deepen our understanding of stress, energy, behaviour and human development.
His books mark important stages in that journey. Calm, Alert and Learning brought Self-Reg into classrooms. Self-Reg opened the ideas to a much wider audience. The Self-Reg Schools Handbook explored what Self-Reg could mean across a school.
And Reframed pushed the work further.
In Reframed: Self-Reg for a Just Society, Stuart takes the Self-Reg lens beyond our understanding of individual behaviour to consider the environments, institutions and social conditions in which human beings develop and live. It asks us to look more deeply at stress, difference, inequity and the assumptions that shape how we see and respond to one another.
That evolution matters deeply to TMC. Self-Reg is not a collection of strategies or a program to implement. It continually asks us to deepen our understanding of what we are seeing when another human being struggles, and to consider what that understanding asks of us.
Today, The MEHRIT Centre remains the home of Shanker Self-Reg®.
Stuart remains the intellectual and visionary heart of the work. His ongoing thinking, writing and synthesis continue to take Self-Reg into new territory. TMC continues to find new ways to make that learning accessible, meaningful and useful in people’s lives.
We are still a relatively grassroots organization, connected to a much larger community of people around the world who care deeply about this work. Together, that community includes educators, early childhood professionals, parents, researchers, clinicians, leaders and many others finding their own ways to bring a deeper understanding of stress and self-regulation into their relationships, work and communities.
And beneath all of our courses, books, resources and partnerships is the same driving purpose: to change how we understand behaviour and what becomes possible when we see a child, an adult or ourselves differently.
We want a struggling child to be met with curiosity rather than judgment. We want people to recognize stress that might otherwise be mistaken for misbehaviour, lack of motivation or poor self-control. We want to help create environments and relationships that support regulation, connection, learning and growth.
More than a decade after TMC began, we are still learning, still evolving and still working to bring this understanding to anyone who wants to learn with us.
That is our story. And we are still writing it.
Grounding living and learning in self-regulation. Our mission is to bring the science and understanding of Shanker Self-Reg® into people’s lives in ways that deepen understanding, change how we see behaviour, and support the conditions in which children, adults, families and communities can thrive.
We do this through learning, resources, relationships and partnerships that help people move from understanding Self-Reg to living it.
1. Shanker Self-Reg® is a universal platform (not a targeted intervention or a behaviour management program).
2. Shanker Self-Reg® is a process not a program.
3. ALL people are capable of improving their self-regulation, no matter the age, stage or ability level.
4. Each individual, family, culture and community holds unique insights about Self-Reg.
5. There is no single set way to do Self-Reg.
6. There are no quick fixes, Self-Reg is a continual and reflective process.
7. Self-Reg is for everyone, it’s not just about children and youth.
8. The well-being of children is inseparable from the well-being of the critical adults in their lives.
Behind The MEHRIT Centre is a remarkably committed group of people who care deeply about this work and about the people who learn with us.
We bring different experiences, disciplines and perspectives to TMC, and we work from communities across Canada and beyond. What connects us is a shared commitment to continuing to learn, to relationships, and to helping bring Self-Reg into people’s lives.
