A Child’s Brain Development

This visual from Beacon House is amazing and such a good reminder of the development of a young person’s brain. Let’s focus on the second part or the Limbic brain, responsible for attachment and emotional development. ⁣
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When a child is going through a huge life transition or trauma-it makes sense to me that they could get stuck here and can’t access their higher order learning very effectively. If children (actually all humans) do not feel safe, they cannot truly open themselves up to the vulnerability it takes to get curious, experiment, and learn. This is physical safety as well as psychological, social, and emotional.⁣
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We need to educate ourselves and each other and our children on the importance of mental health and emotional safety – through awareness, mindfulness, practice, community – this is a great reminder when dealing with a child’s “hard” “difficult behaviors” or “rough edges”.⁣
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Be mindful that they are not trying to be hard or difficult. They aren’t BEING hard. They are HAVING a hard time. We can meet them in a power struggle or meet them in compassion knowing that their reactivity is likely very connected to this information. 💗

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