Author: Chris Robinson
My interbrain gets a real workout
When it’s job is to co-regulate two or more people in the clinic
Peeling back centuries of self-control paradigm
To allow Self-Reg to see the light of day
Stuck in a myriad of Self-Reg snags
Come children and youth and their parents
When Sticks and Carrots are no longer working
All of them
Caught in their own unique stress cycle
A child, a parent, a parent-child relationship
Sometimes cuddling together
Other times separated, even by a bathroom door where
Confusing facial expressions are eliminated
Explore and reduce stressors
Experienced out in the world, but carried into the moment
Becoming calm enough
To explore why a child rages
How do I NOT hit mommy when I get angry?
Asks the child with sincerity
The mommy weeps
And I tear up
The positive bias of hope connecting their severed interbrains
Changing trajectories for a relationship and for a young life
Sibling teenagers
Slouching on the couch and looking bored
Sneak peaks at me and look intensely at their parent’s reactions
Learn together with their parent
Why they do what they do
Why anxiety is so prevalent in their generation
And stop the blame game
Conversation shifts to what’s working
Enjoying time alone shooting baskets is new
A huge step in self-reg for one
Who can’t be alone with his anxiety
While trying to negotiate his adolescent brain explosion
In a crazy stressed out world
Together the teens tell their parents that she’s doing a great job
And mean it
The mom weeps
And I tear up
The positive bias of hope connecting their severed interbrains
Changing trajectories for their relationships and for their young lives
Deepening self and other understanding and reducing stressors
While re-building the interbrain
Heals us all
Regardless of our age
Including me
The so-called professional in the room
The Self-Reg Dance Instructor
