Regulated & Relational

When you hear the word calm, what comes to mind? Sitting still? Being quiet? Not reacting?

In this episode of Regulated & Relational, Tracy Leonard and Ginger Healy challenge common misconceptions about calm and explore a deeper, trauma-informed understanding of what calm truly means. Rather than being about compliance or the absence of emotion, calm is revealed as a nervous system state that is rooted in safety, regulation, and connection.

Just as anxiety can spread, so can calm, grounded regulation. 

Listeners will learn why calm is often misunderstood, how trauma impacts our ability to access it, and why calm is less about controlling emotions and more about staying connected to ourselves while experiencing them.

"Calm isn't the absence of emotion. It's the ability to stay with yourself through emotion."  Tracy Leonard

In this episode of Regulated & Relational, Julie Beem and Ginger Healy explore anxiety through an attachment-focused and trauma-informed lens. Together, they discuss how worry, avoidance, emotional numbness, and perfectionism often develop as protective coping strategies, while also examining how these strategies can unintentionally keep us disconnected from ourselves and others.

Julie and Ginger help us understand anxiety is often less about eliminating fear and more about understanding what lies beneath it and share compassionate insight into the healing power of authentic connection, vulnerability, and relationship repair.

Resources Mentioned and Quotes

• The Dance of Fear by Harriet Lerner

• Relational-Cultural Theory (Judith Jordan)

• Attachment- and trauma-informed approaches to healing and connection

"It is not fear that stops you from doing the brave and true thing in your daily life. Rather, the problem is avoidance." — Harriet Lerner, The Dance of Fear

"You want to feel comfortable and so you avoid doing and saying the thing that will evoke fear and other difficult emotions. Avoidance will make you feel less vulnerable in the short run, but it will never make you less afraid." — Harriet Lerner, The Dance of Fear

"The need for connection in which growth is a priority is the core motivation in people's lives." — Judith Jordan

In this episode of Regulated & Relational Tracy, Ginger, and Julie come together to mark a significant transition for the Attachment & Trauma Network: the retirement of longtime Executive Director, Julie Beem.

Using this moment of change as a springboard, our hosts explore important elements of transition, both positive and negative, and the impact transition has on our bodies, our minds, and how we respond to and go about our daily lives.

Through both professional insight and vulnerable personal stories Tracy, Ginger, and Julie unpack what it means to navigate change in a trauma-informed, attachment-focused way—for ourselves and for the children in our lives.

Ginger Healy’s current children’s book, Stronger Together and other books authored by Ginger can be found:

Ginger Healy publications website https://gingerhealy.com/publications

Bookshop.org https://tinyurl.com/y8hcfscu

In this episode of Regulated & Relational, Tracy and Ginger welcome Dr. Lisa A. Riegel—nationally recognized educator, researcher, founder of the Educational Partnerships Institute, and author of the book NeuroWell. Together, they explore why skills like emotional regulation, connection, and self-awareness are not “soft” at all, but essential to learning, wellbeing, and long-term success.

Dr. Riegel emphasizes that meaningful change doesn’t happen at the classroom level alone—it requires alignment across entire systems. As she powerfully states, “If we want different outcomes, we need different systems—not just better intentions.”

Drawing on neuroscience, trauma-informed practice, and systems-level leadership, Dr. Riegel challenges traditional school models and calls for a shift toward proactive, brain-aligned environments that support both students and educators.

“When you attend to the human people, the academics come…a lot faster too.”

Dr. Lisa Riegel

📚 Learn More About Dr. Lisa A. Riegel

Book: NeuroWell

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/NeuroWell-Applying-science-supportive-proactive/dp/B0F1N5DJQF

Organization: Educational Partnerships Institute https://www.epinstitute.net/

Frameworks: NeuroWell culture www.epinstitute.net/neurowell

Focus Areas: Brain-based leadership, trauma-informed systems, school culture transformation

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisariegel/

To explore more of Dr. Riegel’s work visit the Educational Partnerships Institute online, using the provided link, for current articles, speaking engagements, and social media presence.

This week on Regulated & Relational, Ginger Healy and Julie Beem welcome a very special guest: educator, speaker, and viral content creator, Jere Chang.

Known to millions online as “Ms. Chang,” Jere brings humor, honesty, creativity, and deep compassion to conversations about education, inclusion, belonging, and what she calls radical kindness. With more than 20 years in education and a global social media following, Jere has become a powerful voice for teachers, families, and children navigating today’s educational landscape.

In this conversation, we explore:

Jere’s journey into teaching and gifted education

Why social media became a platform for advocacy and connection

What “soft activism” and radical kindness really mean

The changing realities facing both students and educators today

The power of authenticity, curiosity, resilience, and belonging

How laughter and connection can become pathways to healing

Ms. Chang’s new book on Amazon!

Becoming the Teacher I Needed: Lessons in Radical Kindness and Resilience

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1394357621

Find Ms. Chang on social media

Ms. Chang Gifted Official Website (mschanggifted)

TikTok: @mschanggifted on TikTok

Instagram: @mschanggifted on Instagram

YouTube: Jere Chang (@mschanggifted) on YouTube

Facebook: Ms. Chang Gifted on Facebook

Linktree (all socials): Ms. Chang Gifted Linktree (Linktree)

In this episode of Regulated & Relational, hosts Tracy Leonard and Ginger Healy sit down with Sage Hancock, Executive Director of GenerationAll, for a powerful and thought-provoking conversation on breaking cycles of trauma and creating systemic change.

Sage shares her expertise at the intersection of advocacy, healing, and prevention—exploring what it truly means to be trauma-informed and attachment-focused when supporting children and families impacted by early childhood trauma.

Together, they discuss:

• What effective prevention looks like for at-risk children and families

• How generational and secondary trauma show up across communities

• The importance of early identification and how trauma manifests in the body

• Why systems like healthcare and policy must shift toward earlier intervention

• The “circle” of prevention and moving upstream to stop harm before it happens

• Expanding models of care, especially in underserved and rural communities

• The role of storytelling—including Hometown Betrayal—in driving awareness and change

This episode is a deep dive into how we move from awareness to action—centering lived experience, strengthening families, and reimagining systems to better protect and support survivors.

Learn more about GenerationAll: https://www.generationall.org/

Follow on social: @generation.all

Book referenced: Hometown Betrayal

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D4KS4S4H

In this powerful and deeply honest conversation, Julie and Ginger sit down with Andy Neal—content creator, speaker, and foster/adoptive parent—to explore the realities of parenting children with Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD).

Drawing from both lived experience and professional insight, this episode dives into the complexities of attachment, trauma, and the emotional toll—and growth—that comes with raising children impacted by early adversity. Andy shares his personal journey with vulnerability, humor, and hard-earned wisdom, offering listeners a rare, unfiltered look at life inside a family navigating RAD.

Andy Neal is an Oregon-based content creator, speaker, and storyteller known online as @andyfilmsandhikes. With a cross-platform audience of over 500,000, Andy is widely recognized for his viral “stupid hike for my stupid mental health” videos, as well as his candid reflections on mental health, faith, grief, and foster and adoptive parenting. His storytelling blends humor with honesty, creating space for real conversations about healing and resilience.

Parenting children with RAD requires a profound shift from behavior management to relationship-based care

Healing is nonlinear—for both children and caregivers

Support systems are not optional; they are essential

Honest storytelling helps reduce stigma and isolation

Follow Andy: @andyfilmsandhikes

What if growth could sound like laughter?

In this conversation, Billy Kaplan, a licensed clinical social worker at Treehouse Health, joins Ginger and Julie to explore how healing with youth can emerge through humor, play, and connection. Billy shares stories from his therapeutic work, showing how joy and pain often live side by side, and how a simple “yes, and” can open space for change.

Together, they reflect on the power of reframing, the meaning of PACE approach (playful acceptance, curiosity, and empathy), and the surprising truth that sometimes the most serious work is play.

What if healing didn’t require a therapy license—only presence, connection, and courage?

Andi Fetzner joins Ginger and Julie and shares how her Origins Training work in Arizona supports adults in understanding trauma, building resilience, and reconnecting to themselves and others. The discussion explores the powerful truth that you don’t have to be a therapist to be therapeutic.

Together, they unpack key trauma concepts—ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences), stress, and resilience—while grounding the conversation in relationship and practical human connection.

A central theme emerges: 

Healing happens in connection.And just as important—uncomfortable does not mean unsafe.

This episode is an invitation to rethink what support, growth, and restoration can look like in everyday spaces.

What are children learning that no one is explicitly teaching?

Ingrid Cockhren joins Julie and Ginger to explore how historical trauma shapes social learning, schooling, storytelling, and bias across generations. From the lasting impacts of colonization and slavery to concepts like white flight and white-washed education, the conversation highlights how coping patterns, beliefs, and behaviors are quietly passed down—and absorbed by children.

Together, they reflect on the limits and responsibilities of schools as microcosms of society, the need for anti-bias and restorative practices in trauma-informed education, and why stronger mental health supports are essential for meaningful change.

At the heart of the episode is a simple truth:

What is learned implicitly must be addressed explicitly—so stories of hope and growth can be passed on alongside history.

In this episode, Julie Beem and Ginger Healy explore Julie’s research on mattering—what it is, why it matters, and how it shows up in adult-child relationships. This episode is created for parents, teachers, and caregivers who want to better understand externalized relationship-seeking behaviors, such as acting out, defiance, attention-seeking, or emotional outbursts. The conversation focuses on how adults can respond to these behaviors in ways that strengthen connection rather than strain it. Julie and Ginger also share the core components of mattering, along with practical takeaways and reflective questions to help bring mattering to the forefront of everyday interactions with children.

In this heartfelt and reflective episode, Julie Beem and Ginger Healy return to a profound conversation from Season 1 with the late Cissy White—trauma survivor, fierce advocate, and the originator of the term Joy Stalking.

As the world faces rising despair and isolation, Julie and Ginger explore what it means to stalk, savor, and sustain joy—especially in the face of pain, trauma, and fear. Drawing from Cissy’s wisdom, Brene Brown’s research, theological insights, and their own personal journeys, they unpack how joy can be a radical act of healing and resistance.

You’ll discover why joy is not the same as happiness, how trauma can block joy, and why cultivating even the tiniest moments of joy might just be one of the most important things we can do—for ourselves, our children, and our communities.

“Joy stalking is always healing and useful. It’s about savoring life through sensing, using my body, absorbing, feeling all the good stuff.” — Cissy White

“Joy isn’t the opposite of sadness. It’s the opposite of fear.” — Anne Robertson via Brené Brown

“Joy doesn’t betray but sustains activism… joy is a fine initial act of insurrection.” — Rebecca Solnit

“We can’t experience joy when we’re scanning for danger. Trauma blocks joy—but healing invites it back in.” — Julie & Ginger

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Stan Sonu, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine and Medical Director for Child Advocacy at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Dr. Sonu shares his insights on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), relational health, and trauma-informed care, focusing on how clinicians and schools can support resilience and wellbeing in children and families.

We dive into Dr. Sonu’s paradigm of “what’s strong with you” instead of “what’s wrong with you?”, and explore the fascinating concept of systemic empathy—how organizations and systems can create environments that nurture and protect children’s relational health.

Dr. Sonu also highlights innovative programs like Strong 4 Life at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and the Health-Law Partnership (HeLP), a collaborative addressing health-harming legal issues for low-income families.

He references valuable resources for clinicians, educators, and families, including the work of Dan Siegel, Interpersonal Neurobiology, and community support services at Grady Memorial Hospital.

Listeners will gain actionable ideas for integrating trauma-informed principles into their own practice, classrooms, or organizations, and be inspired to shift from focusing on deficits to recognizing and building on strengths in children and families.

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

https://www.strong4life.com/en/our-experts/stan-sonu

Grady Memorial Hospital

Dan Siegel Books & Resources

Interpersonal Neurobiology Resources

Health-Law Partnership (HeLP)

Play isn’t just fun—it’s essential. In this episode, Ginger and Julie unpack the science, healing power, and everyday possibilities of play. From brain development to emotional regulation, play shapes resilience, fosters connection, and repairs the impact of trauma. You’ll hear how movement amplifies the benefits, how barriers like technology and busy schedules can be addressed, and why play matters just as much for adults as it does for kids.

Along the way, we highlight the insights of Dr. Tina Payne Bryson, Dr. Dan Hughes, Dr. Dave Ziegler, and Dr. Stuart Brown, plus practical strategies for both parents and educators to make play a daily part of life—even in middle and high school classrooms.

Whether you’re parenting, teaching, or healing alongside children, this episode will inspire you to see play not as a reward or an afterthought, but as a biological imperative and a vital tool for growth, recovery, and joy.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• Why play is a “biological imperative” and a cornerstone of healthy brain development.
• How play supports emotional regulation, resilience, and relationship-building—especially for children impacted by trauma.
• The connection between movement, nervous system regulation, and healing.
• Common barriers to play (like technology, safety concerns, and adult exhaustion) and how to overcome them.
• How a playful stance from adults—rooted in curiosity and delight—reduces defensiveness and fosters openness.
• Practical ways parents can integrate more play into daily life.
• Classroom-friendly ideas for incorporating play at all grade levels, including middle and high school.
• Why adults also need play for creativity, flexibility, and emotional health.

“When we prioritize play, we’re not just making memories—we’re shaping brains.” — Dr. Tina Payne Bryson

Resources & References:

• Bryson, T. P. (2024). The Way of Play https://a.co/d/hmyINYl
• Brown, S. (2009). Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul
• https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2009-17682-000
• Porges, S. W. (2011). The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-Regulation https://a.co/d/ahbaGPQ
• Hughes, D. A. (2009). Attachment-Focused Parenting
• https://a.co/d/5lfYF1p
• Bongiorno, L. (NAEYC). “10 Things Every Parent Should Know About Play”
• https://www.naeyc.org/our-work/families/10-things-every-parent-play
• BYU Arts Playbook — Nurturing Developmental Skills Through Arts-Integrated Education

What would it look like if we built a society that prevents child abuse and neglect—before it ever begins? In this episode, Ginger and Julie sit down with Dr. Melissa T. Merrick, President and CEO of Prevent Child Abuse America, to explore the evolving landscape of child well-being and what it takes to move from awareness to true prevention.

Dr. Merrick shares powerful insights from her 20+ years of work in clinical research and public health leadership, including her time as the lead scientist for the CDC’s ACEs study and as a principal architect of Thriving Families, Safer Children—a national initiative reimagining child welfare through the lens of equity, collaboration, and hope.

This is a conversation about what’s possible when we center families, build supportive communities, and focus on healing—not punishment.

In This Episode, We Explore:

• What the latest data on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) is telling us today

• Why prevention is possible—and how we shift from reacting to preventing

• The vision and impact of Thriving Families, Safer Children

• How systems-level change must include equity, community voice, and upstream investments

• The intersection of science, advocacy, and hope

• How leaders, educators, and caregivers can support family well-being at every level

"We can’t punish our way into prevention. Real change begins when we center families, build supportive systems, and believe in the power of thriving communities." — Dr. Melissa Merrick

Resources & Links:

Learn more about Prevent Child Abuse America: preventchildabuse.org

This is a follow-up to Episode 101, where we discussed the two recognized attachment disorder diagnoses and their impact on families. In this episode, we focus on how RAD shows up at school—and what teachers, counselors, and administrators need to know to respond with understanding and effectiveness.

Educator Takeaways

• Stay curious, not reactive. RAD behaviors are about survival, not defiance.

• Don’t take it personally. Regulation is contagious—yours can help calm theirs.

• Drop the rope. Avoid engaging in power struggles; instead, step back and stay grounded.

• Connect the adults. Prevent triangulation by keeping clear, direct communication among parents, teachers, and administrators.

• Prioritize safety and consistency. Predictable routines and transparent expectations create a sense of security.

• Support attachment without replacing it. Teachers can be caring and relational without taking on the role of primary attachment figure.

What Doesn’t Work

• Rewards and punishments as motivators

• Multiple warnings or lectures

• Asking “why” after behaviors

• Emotional reactivity from adults

What Does Work

• Calm, consistent follow-through

• Pre-planned responses for known triggers

• Structured routines and visual schedules

• Providing regulated choices

• Team-based collaboration with parents and specialists

• Focusing on regulation first, learning second

What if burnout isn’t just about exhaustion—but something much deeper? In this powerful episode, Julie and Ginger speak with Sheri Kreher, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and the Trauma, Illness, and Grief (TIG) Coordinator for 24 school districts in New York. Sheri brings two decades of mental health experience and a deep understanding of the emotional toll today’s educators are carrying.

Together, we explore the growing wave of vicarious trauma, moral injury, and systemic despair among school staff—and why the solution lies beyond individual self-care. Sheri introduces the idea of Active Hope—a framework that acknowledges the pain, honors the grief, and offers a path forward rooted in connection, validation, and systems change.

If you’ve ever found yourself thinking, “What’s wrong with me that I can’t do this job anymore?”—this episode will help you reframe that question and begin to heal.

________________________________________

In This Episode, We Explore:

• Why burnout in education is often a symptom of deeper, systemic wounds

• The role of moral injury and betrayal in driving educator hopelessness

• How vicarious trauma shows up—and why it’s not a sign of weakness

• What it means to practice Active Hope in school systems that feel broken

• How administrators can be a protective factor for staff

• Why naming, witnessing, and validating pain is essential to healing

• What it takes to build school climates of cohesion, care, and courage

"What looks like burnout is often unprocessed grief and betrayal. Educators don’t just need more resilience—they need to be seen, heard, and believed." — Sheri Kreher

________________________________________

Resources:

• Active Hope (by Joanna Macy & Chris Johnstone)

• Active Hope Book Link: https://a.co/d/6dZ6xbi

“Parents Have Feelings, Too: Emotional Intelligence, The Change Triangle, and Healing Generational Patterns with Hilary Jacobs Hendel & Juli Fraga”

Parenting can bring deep joy—but also guilt, shame, rage, grief, and more. So what do we do with all those big feelings? In this powerful episode, Julie and Ginger sit down with Hilary Jacobs Hendel, author of It’s Not Always Depression, and Dr. Juli Fraga, psychologist and parenting educator, to discuss their brand-new book, Parents Have Feelings, Too: Using the Change Triangle to Listen to the Body, Discover Core Emotions, and Connect to Your Authentic Self (out September 23, 2025).

This book is a practical, research-backed, and compassion-filled guide to help parents recognize, work through, and grow from their emotions. Together, we explore how understanding your own emotionallandscape—through tools like the Change Triangle and the 4 Cs of Open-Heartedness—can break intergenerational patterns and build emotional intelligence in both you and your children.

From the hidden power of disappointment to how to befriend your defenses, this episode is full of insight, practical strategies, and affirming reminders that your feelings matter too.

In This Episode, We Explore:

A gentle, clear introduction to the Change Triangle and how it helps people process emotions

The 4 Cs of Open-Heartedness—and how they lead to greater emotional freedom

 What’s underneath "parent burnout" and how to move through it with clarity

 Why naming and noticing your defenses can unlock self-compassion

 How understanding disappointment can transform your parenting

 Ways parents can model healthy emotional processing for their kids

 The role of unprocessed trauma in generational parenting patterns—and how to break the cycle

 Tools for parenting through anxiety, guilt, grief, and more—with authenticity and skill

Parents Have Feelings, Too is an emotional wellness playbook for parents. Drawing from the Change Triangle framework and Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP), Hilary and Juli provide tools to help parents identify, understand, and process emotions in real time—so they can respond with calm, confidence, and connection. Through exercises, client stories, and reflection activities, this book guides readers to become more emotionally attuned parents and more authentic versions of themselves.

“With 1 in 5 moms experiencing anxiety or depression, and over 60% of parents facing burnout, this book isn’t just helpful—it’s necessary.”

RESOURCES

Parents Have Feelings, Too: A Guide to Navigating Your Emotions So You And Your Family Can Thrive:

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/788442/parents-have-feelings-too-by-hilary-jacobs-hendel/

Emotions Education 101 Class on Zoom for Parents:https://www.hilaryjacobshendel.com/education-cirriculum-content/emotion-education-101

Teens, Tweens and Caregivers Curriculum to provide anEmotions Education 2-hour Introduction:https://www.hilaryjacobshendel.com/workshops/teen-emotions-education-101%E2%84%A2

Print a PDF of the Change Triangle:https://www.hilaryjacobshendel.com/print-the-change-triangle

Change Triangle YouTube channel with tools:https://www.youtube.com/@TheChangeTriangle/videos

Follow Hilary: hilaryjacobshendel.com

Follow Juli: julifraga.com

In this heartfelt and reflective episode, Julie Beem and Ginger Healy return to a profound conversation from Season 1 with the late Cissy White—trauma survivor, fierce advocate, and the originator of the term Joy Stalking.

As the world faces rising despair and isolation, Julie and Ginger explore what it means to stalk, savor, and sustain joy—especially in the face of pain, trauma, and fear. Drawing from Cissy’s wisdom, Brene Brown’s research, theological insights, and their own personal journeys, they unpack how joy can be a radical act of healing and resistance.

You’ll discover why joy is not the same as happiness, how trauma can block joy, and why cultivating even the tiniest moments of joy might just be one of the most important things we can do—for ourselves, our children, and our communities.

“Joy stalking is always healing and useful. It’s about savoring life through sensing, using my body, absorbing, feeling all the good stuff.” — Cissy White

“Joy isn’t the opposite of sadness. It’s the opposite of fear.” — Anne Robertson via Brené Brown

“Joy doesn’t betray but sustains activism… joy is a fine initial act of insurrection.” — Rebecca Solnit

“We can’t experience joy when we’re scanning for danger. Trauma blocks joy—but healing invites it back in.” — Julie & Ginger

In this thought-provoking episode of Regulated & Relational, Ginger Healy and Julie Beem invite you to explore the transformative power of empathy—not just as a personal virtue but as a vital, actionable skill that the world needs now more than ever.

• Listen actively – Focus on understanding, not fixing.
  

• Challenge your assumptions – Seek to understand those who are different from you.
  

• Model empathy for children – Help them recognize their own feelings first.
  

• Be compassionate with yourself – Self-awareness is the foundation for empathy.
  

“Empathy isn’t about imagining yourself in someone else’s shoes—it’s about listening deeply to their story and believing them.” – Ginger Healy

In this special birthday-themed episode of Regulated & Relational, we’re doing something a little different—and a lot more personal. Julie Beem is celebrating her birthday by inviting the entire ATN podcast team into the studio for a heartfelt and reflective conversation about birthdays, aging, and the complexities surrounding these milestones—especially for children impacted by early childhood trauma.

You’ll hear from Julie, Ginger, Lorraine, and Stephanie as they open up about their own birthday reflections, share meaningful life lessons, and discuss how birthdays can be both joyful and emotionally complicated—especially for children who have experienced trauma, loss, or displacement. Whether you’re a parent, educator, therapist, or someone who just loves a good reflection, this episode is both thought-provoking and full of warmth.

Join Julie and Ginger as they speak with Dr. Lori Desautels

Dr. Lori Desautels has been an Assistant Professor at Butler University since 2016, teaching undergraduate and graduate programs in the College of Education. The Applied Educational Neuroscience Certification, created by Lori in 2016, is specifically designed to meet the needs of educators, counselors, clinicians, and administrators who work with children and adolescents who have experienced adversity and trauma.

https://revelationsineducation.com/

Lori has written 6 books

https://revelationsineducation.com/the-book/

Register for her symposium here

https://www.butler.edu/education/education-neuroscience-symposium/

Register for her summer cohort certification in educational neuroscience here

https://www.butler.edu/education/graduate-programs/applied-educational-neuroscience/

Dr. Lori will be doing a 3-hour deep dive during our Academy Day/Pre-Con at our Creating Trauma-Sensitive Schools Conference in Feb in Atlanta! Register now!

Here are a couple of favorite takeaways from our episode that Lori beautifully teaches.

“Touchpoints are moments of connection that, when any of us feel heard and seen, just changes our biology. When someone sees, feels, or hears us…wow, that’s a lift. A dopamine hit or a serotonin hit. It feels so nourishing to us. “

“We have this beautiful nervous system, which is the brain and body, in constant communication; there’s this bi-directional highway. Our nervous system’s priority is survival. Anytime we sense or feel something in our environment, relationship, or experience that feels threatening or unsafe, our nervous system goes into a state of protection.”

Join Julie and Ginger as they speak with Anashay Wright,  a national award-winning educator, speaker, consultant, and ​​founder of Authentic Disruption and Disruptive Partners, a community-based leadership development program. 

https://www.anashaywright.com/

Anashay describes her journey by telling a story of inclusive school leaders who surrounded her family with community resources when they were in need. She says that school and district leaders prioritized people over policy, which led to Anashay falling in love with helping children, and she is now paying it forward.

Here are some great takeaways from Anashay:

The curriculum can’t save you.

Brainwash them into greatness.

Use the community as a connector. 

Use tech and AI to educate.

Kids don’t need Saviorism; they need servant leaders.

Kids can read! They read what they want. You can drive solutions with what kids CAN do. If they argue, teach them to argue like an attorney. 

Beware of the cycle of impoverished thinking.

Give them the power to express themselves, and then listen to them.

Beware of deficit thinking that shames people.

What are the gifts and talents that you bring into the space?

Let them dream. Lead with what’s possible. It starts with the adult dreaming.

Make their vision your mission.

Lead with radical, disruptive love.

The question isn’t how we protect kids from trauma; it’s how we help them respond to it when they encounter it.

Our favorite quote from Anashay:

When we start to lead with what’s possible and the promise, shift our thinking, and actually believe in ourselves and then in our children, we will disrupt the system. Disruptive Innovation means building something better and ignoring what we currently have. In a classroom, that means if all the other teachers are writing kids up, I’m not going to write kids up. I’m simply gonna ask kids, “What’s wrong, what’s the solution, and how are you feeling?” The big and small moves you make every day when nobody is looking disrupt the system.

In Episode 82, Ginger & Julie dig into Oxytocin. Oxytocin is often called the “love” or “cuddle” hormone.

High levels of oxytocin correlate with the speed of wound healing. Research is documenting the positive effects of oxytocin in treating many conditions including heart disease, schizophrenia, diabetes, and certain kinds of cancer.

For children who have experienced early adversities with attachment disorders and trauma-based impacts, increasing their oxytocin levels holds the promise of helping them emotionally, socially, relationally, and physically.

Besides physical touch and affection other things that increase oxytocin:

• Exercise
• Healthy Diet
• Vitamin D
• Music

The following additional resources were mentioned

Dr. Stephen Porges https://www.stephenporges.com/

Amelia and Emily Nagoski https://www.burnoutbook.net/about-the-authors

Dr. Louis Cozolino https://www.drloucozolino.com/

Drs. Dan Hughes and Jon Baylin -Brain-Based Parenting book- https://a.co/d/gUWRjQF