Trauma-Informed Parenting

Why is self-regulation important for parents?

• If parents have self-regulation, they are going to be in a better position to manage their stress.
• They have greater self-awareness so they will be in a position to understand their own strengths and limitations.
• If we know our own limitations, that is a strength, we know when to reach out for help!
• With better self-regulation, we can live a much better life, we are typically happier, we are more likely to have better health, and live longer.

These are just a few nuggets of wisdom from Dr. Jerrod's interview. Grab a cup of coffee (and a pen and notebook) and get ready to learn. Bonus: I asked Dr. Jerrod how we apply these principles during the holiday season to avoid being stressed (in survival mode)!

During the holiday season, all the things that trigger us (and our kiddos) are compounded. 

Too much noise. Too much stimulation. Sensory overload. Too much everything.

This is the perfect time to talk about attachment. Why? Because more than any other time of year, we need to take a step back and invest in attachment so our families can thrive this holiday season.

Where is the best place to learn about attachment?

How about God's original plan for perfect attachment?

Grab a cup of coffee and join me as I dig into God's original plan for attachment. These are practical steps for attachment you can invest in today! Read the show notes HERE.

You may wonder why I'm talking about breaks in attachment during the holiday season. The truth is - this is the season when our kiddos (and we) are triggered more than any other time of year. That's why it's important to know how to repair breaks in attachment. What is attachment?

I know it’s gotten a lot more social media time and screen time. It’s more out in the open now because now we are learning the science of attachment parenting. We’re learning the importance of what attachment does for the brain. This is amazing. It is so wonderful. I’m so excited that that is at the forefront now. But maybe your kiddos have had breaks in attachment. You’re sitting there thinking, okay, I know that they’ve had breaks in attachment. I’ve heard those words used in that order, but I’m really not even sure what the attachment cycle is.

Grab a cup of coffee and join me as we learn together how to repair breaks in attachment!  Read the show notes here (plus sign up for all the free stuff I talked about!)

One of the questions I received from a podcast listener-  How do you change yourself?

In other words, how do you heal from your past and parent well at the same time?

I get it. I have reparented myself. It is possible to heal from your past while parenting. Healing from your past trauma includes reparenting yourself. 

It is possible to reparent yourself and heal all while parenting at the same time. Just know, it’s not going to happen overnight or magically. You actually have to put the time and work into – journaling your triggers, reframing your beliefs, and instituting practices that provide felt-safety for yourself. Set aside time to process. You can make sense of and make peace with your past. Grab a cup of coffee, a pen, and your journal, and get ready to start healing from your past trauma!

This time of year, it feels as if we are off and running as soon as October ends. Every morning our feet hit the ground. We’re going from one to the next thing. We have Thanksgiving dinner to plan for. Company coming. Not to mention family birthdays, shopping, outings, therapies, and all the regularly scheduled stuff.

The tips that I want to give you today are not tips about Pinteresty stuff such as – and find the perfect Christmas tree or the perfect ornament to make. Not that those are bad things. Those are fun things to do, but it’s more about self-care and taking care of yourself during the holidays.

Grab a cup of coffee and join me as I share 3 tips to help you practice self-care and thrive this holiday season!

"At the core of Trauma-Informed Parenting, we're going to be utilizing practices that are really rooted in empathy and compassion and validation and attunement and really leaning into that child and understanding that child's needs, and wants. Plus being able to model appropriate behavior to that child as well." - Dr. Jerrod Brown

For the second in this series, Trauma-Informed Parenting 101, Dr. Jerrod does a deep dive into what trauma-informed parenting actually looks like. Grab a cup of coffee, a pen, and a notebook, and get ready to learn. 

P.S. - I took notes while recording this interview. It's jam-packed with so much great information!

 

How do you provide felt safety for yourself? And why do we need to provide felt safety? Shouldn’t the fact that we are basically safe from the trauma of our past be enough?

We parent our kiddos with the lens through which we view life. Our beliefs direct our parenting.

We parents with a trauma history and/or a Captial Letter Syndrome can stay stuck. We do this by ruminating on what can happen to us based on our fears about our past. 

So we need to provide felt-safety for ourselves because our children mirror our dysregulation when we don't feel safe.

Grab a cup of coffee and join me as I share three tips on how to make yourself feel safe!

How do you provide felt safety for your kiddo? And why do we need to provide felt safety? Shouldn’t a child being safe be enough?

Dangers of not providing felt safety

Fear is a bully. It pushes a child into a corner. The child responds with tantrums, meltdowns, shutdowns, and high levels of anxiety.

Myth: Your child will feel safe because they are safe.

Grab a cup of coffee and learn the difference between safety and felt-saftey and why it matters!

Comparing Traditional Parenting With Connected (Non-Traditional) Parenting 

Why doesn’t traditional parenting work with kiddos who have trauma histories/Capital Letter Syndromes?

 Traditional Parenting tends to focus on outer behavior. Its practice is all external - punishments, lectures, and consequences.

Let's dig a Little Deeper

Traditional parenting really tends to focus on the outer- how are you behaving?

Grab a cup of coffee and join me as I dig deeper into the difference between traditional and connected parenting plus how you can parent in a more connected way.

Prefer to read the article? Click HERE.

 

Join me as Dr. Jerrod Brown shares - Trauma 101- the first in a monthly series (releasing the first Wednesday of every month). 

I'm so excited for you to learn from Dr. Jerrod. Grab a pen and paper or open your notes app and get ready for this overview of trauma!

Check out Dr. Jerrod's bio below-

Jerrod Brown, Ph.D., M.A., M.S., M.S., M.S., is a professor, trainer, researcher, and consultant with multiple years of experience teaching collegiate courses. Jerrod is also the founder and CEO of the American Institute for the Advancement of Forensic Studies (AIAFS). Jerrod has also provided consultation services to a number of caregivers, professionals, and organizations pertaining to topics related to autism spectrum disorder (ASD), fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), confabulation, suggestibility, trauma and other life adversities, traumatic brain injury (TBI), and youth firesetting. Jerrod has completed four separate master’s degree programs and holds graduate certificates in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Other Health Disabilities (OHD), and Traumatic-Brain Injuries (TBI).