Reduce the Stress“Self-Reg seeks to identify and reduce the causes of problems in mood, thought and
behaviour. Self-Reg is always searching for hidden stressors.” (Dr. Stuart Shanker)
Shanker MethodRead and Reframe the Behaviour
Recognize the Stressors
Reduce the Stress
Reflect: Enhance Stress Awareness
Respond: Develop Personal Strategies to Reduce Tension and Restore Energy
The Disease Model in Mental Health…
Well BeingMental Illness
Well BeingMental Illness
Enhancing the Potential in Children…
Problems with self-regulation during children’s early development can be a risk factor for the development of:• developmental disorders
• internalising problems
• externalising problems
• personality disorders
• memory disorders
• alcoholism
• risky behaviours
• obesity
• diabetes and cancer
• coronary heart disease
• immune system disorders such as asthma, allergies, chronic fatigue syndrome and rheumatoid arthritis
We don’t just want to change the consequence of
the stress (the behaviour);
We want to go “upstream”, identify the stressors, and
then reduce the stress load.
Going Upstream… “Behaviour is what is happening downstream.”
(Dr. Ross Greene)
Source of Quotes: Vicki Parnell (Self-Reg Level 2 Certificate Program)
Shanker MethodRead and Reframe the Behaviour
Recognize the Stressors
Reduce the Stress
Reflect: Enhance Stress Awareness
Respond: Develop Personal Strategies to Reduce Tension and Restore Energy
Where does all my energy go?
What replenishes your energy?
What drains your energy?
Stress
Anything that requires the body to burn energy in order to keep a system in
its optimum functioning range.
Self-Reg
A method for understanding
stress and managing energy and tension
to promoteself-regulation.
“If a student is having trouble learning, then there is some stress going on, and that is
changeable. A key part of our job in education is tuning into what is stressing the student –not only major or “toxic” stress, but also everyday stressors and
hidden sensory, social and cognitive stressors – and
reducing the stress so the child can get into “learning brain.”
(Dr. Stuart Shanker)
LearningBrain
Hidden Stressors
“Hidden stressors are things that cause the child to burn energy without her realizing that this is happening. The world of children and teens
today is filled with such hidden stressors.”
(Dr. Stuart Shanker)
Hidden Stressors
Developmental IcebergContributions to Behaviours
• Neuro-ception• Trauma• Emotions• Physiological Needs• Quality and Quantity of Sleep • Differences in Brain Wiring
• Motor/Movement Functioning• Physical Sensations (including but not
limited to pain)• Procedural (sub-conscious) Memories • Sensory Processing and Integration
(including auditory and language processing)
• Internal Indicators of Stress and Stress Recovery (such as heart rate variability)
• Observable Behaviours• Birth and Medical History • Chronological Age• Communication
• Objective Information • Family’s Cultural Identity • Parenting Beliefs • Religious Practices
• Physiological State • Faulty Neuro-ception• Emotional Responses (Shame or
Embarrassment)• Stress Response (Fight, Flight, Freeze)• Adaptations to Sensorimotor or
Processing Preferences • Physical Pain or Discomfort• Thoughts or Ideas
The Child or Environment’s Fault
• Purposefully Misbehaving• Attention Seeking• Oppositional• Inconsistent Discipline• Testing Limits
Adaptation to One’s Unique Differences
Developmental IcebergAttributions of Behaviours
• Lazy• Defiant• Avoidant • Poor Parenting• Intellectual Disability
We have built a world that no longer fits our bodies. Our genes - selected through our evolution - and the many processes by which our development is tuned within the womb, limit our capacity to adapt to the modern urban lifestyle. There is a mismatch. We are seeing the impact of this mismatch in the explosion of diabetes, heart disease and obesity. But it also has consequences in earlier puberty and old age. Bringing together the latest scientific research in evolutionary biology, development, medicine, anthropology and ecology, Peter Gluckman and Mark Hanson, both leading medical scientists, argue that many of our problems as modern-day humans can be understood in terms of this fundamental and growing mismatch. It is an insight that we ignore at our peril.
Mismatch Theory
2017-18 Self-Reg School Toolkit
Setting: What are the Stressors?
Setting: Reduce the Stress
2017-18 Self-Reg School Toolkit
Context: What are the Stressors?
https://self-reg.ca/2017/06/28/ending-year-self-reg-note/
Context: Reduce the Stress
Interactions: What are the Stressors?
Interactions: Reduce the StressRemember the Interbrain!
Applying the Brakes When Too Much Energy is Expended!
hypothalamus
“In order to teach you have to have a relationship with the child. But first, the social brain needs to be online.”
(Dr. Stuart Shanker)
What are the Stressors?
What are the Stressors? It’s Personal
Interactions
Context
Setting
Reduce the Stress - It’s Personal
2017-18 Self-Reg School Toolkit
SELF-REG
“Proceed gradually. Self-regulation takes time to figure out. Going step by step often requires tremendous patience.”
(Dr. Stuart Shanker)
Take it Personal: Reduce the Stress
What replenishes your energy?
What drains your energy?