Our Mission & Values

We are in the midst of a scientific paradigm-revolution in our understanding of the effects of excessive stress on behaviour, social-emotional development, intelligence, empathy, motivation, and character. The theoretical foundation of the Shanker Self-Reg® framework rests on these recent advances in neuroscience, physiology, psychology and clinical practice. The Shanker Method® explores, explains, and applies these new insights in a way that benefits every child, youth, adult and senior.

“There is no such thing as a bad kid”

                                                            – Stuart Shanker

Self-Reg provides us not just with the why, but also with next steps on “the how”.  How to distinguish between maladaptive and growth-promoting modes of managing stress;  between misbehaviour and stress-behaviour; between laziness and processes deep inside the brain that impede learning or effort. And what to do about it.

Through Self-Reg, we learn how to:

• reframe behaviour, our own as well as another’s;
• identify stressors – both overt and hidden;
• acquire strategies to reduce those stresses;
• become aware of what it feels like to be calm and what it feels like to be over-stressed; and finally,
• develop restorative practices that enhance our capacity, not to cope with but rather, to thrive on the various stresses that abound in modern life.

With Self-Reg we learn how to transform the dream of a Just Society into a reality, one mind at a time.