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How Not to Screw Up Your Kids
Neuroscience and Emotional Regulation in Children, with Professor Sam Wass
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Does your child ever get worked up, and you find it escalates super fast but feel powerless to bring them down from that ledge?
Every parent has been there, but it’s only in recent years that we have really begun to understand the reasons why, and it’s all about neuroscience.
Children’s brains are changing and developing all the time, which means as parents it can be so difficult to keep up, and know how to support them with things like emotional regulation, so I want to talk though some of these challenges and give you some practical advice that I hope will help you and your family.
To have this conversation I am joined by Professor Sam Wass, who you may recognise from such TV shows as The Secret Life of 4 Year Olds. He is is currently Director of the Institute for the Science of Early Years at the University of East London, and shares some of his expertise, to help us all understand some of the science behind emotional regulation.
So pour yourself a cuppa, find a comfy seat, and enjoy the conversation…
More about Sam and his work:
Website: https://www.profsamwass.com/
Useful research: https://www.profsamwass.com/tweet-threads/
Institute for the Science & Early Years of Youth: https://www.isey.org/ct-for-ey-and-schools
Highlights from this episode:
04:10 - Measuring brain stem activity
08:08 - Nature versus nurture
13:18 - Panic disorders
17:20 - Long term effects of children in high stress states
21:23 - Brain stem arousal is trending up
25:29 - You’re only still when you’re dead
31:25 - Children hate broccoli because of science
35:18 - We’re going on a bear hunt
42:33 - Quadrants
48:00 - Mums and dads play differently
53:29 - Co-regulating
59:14 - Stress contagion
💚 Please share with at least one friend, and let’s build our village together
💚 For all previous episodes, and to submit episode topics you want me to talk about, visit https://drmaryhan.com/podcast/
💚 For the free resource library, visit https://drmaryhan.com/library
💚 Join our campaign One Million Moments to reduce the number of children struggling with mental health challenges from 17% to 10% by 2025
💚 Brands and advertisers, email contact@drmaryhan.com
DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast is not intended to constitute or be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.
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