Self-Reg helps us understand how excess stress causes, or worsens, behaviour and mood problems. But what do we do about it? The Five Practices of Self-Reg are a good place to start.
Reframe the behaviour – Look at the behaviour differently, in terms of the stress that caused it. This helps you see a child differently and find more compassionate and helpful ways to address behaviour, mood and learning challenges.
Recognize the Stressors – Be a “stress detective.” Some stressors are hidden. What stresses a child in one day or situation may not bother them the next.
This opens the door to more positive strategies for responding to behaviour issues.
Reduce the Stress We can’t eliminate all stress. But we can reduce some particularly unnecessary and hidden stress.
This frees people from burning their energy coping with stress, so they can use it to learn, get along with others and pursue goals.
Reflect. Develop Stress Awareness: Learn what a person’s (or your own) stressors are and how to recognize the signs of over stress.
This can prevent people from falling into prolonged, energy-depleting high stress states.
Restore Energy. Stress burns energy. So we must learn what restores energy and recognize when child (or ourselves) needs to restore.
This helps people get back to the calm, alert and balanced state we want most of the time.
Learn more:
You can learn more about The Five Practices of Self-Reg in our Self-Reg Foundations Program.
Blog: Singing goodbye to my mom: How the five practices of Self-Reg are helping me through my grief
