Nurturing Neural Systems: How to Help Children in Crisis

Understanding the intricate connection between a child's brain and body is fundamental to addressing mental health challenges. In my new book, I explore this critical relationship, emphasizing how a child's neural pathways process experiences and shape their responses to the world around them. Mental health isn't just about identifying problems—it's about understanding how children receive and interpret interactions, which ultimately influences their behavioral patterns and emotional well-being.
 
 When we encounter a child in crisis, our first instinct might be to focus solely on their behavior. However, this approach often misses the underlying neural mechanisms at work. Children don't inherently understand why they feel different or struggle in certain situations. They simply experience a sense that something is wrong with them, creating a foundation for long-term mental health challenges. My research demonstrates that these challenges aren't reflective of fundamental flaws in the child but rather indicate how their sensory systems receive and process information from their environment.
 
 The path to supporting children's mental health begins with understanding what I call "the received path"—how sensory information enters and is processed by the brain. This understanding must lead the body's responses. Rather than merely training children to behave differently, we need to organize their sensory pathways in relation to their neural systems. This is why I emphasize "talking to the brain not the body"—addressing the root processing mechanisms rather than just the outward manifestations of struggle.
 
 Children navigate complex landscapes daily—transitioning between home, school, neighborhood, and eventually workplace environments. Each context presents unique challenges that can impact a child's trajectory. A difficult experience at home might affect school performance, which could drive a child to seek outlets in potentially problematic neighborhood interactions, ultimately affecting their future workplace success. This cascade effect demonstrates how mental health is inherently connected to a child's ability to process experiences across different contexts.
 
 As parents, teachers, and coaches, we must recognize that children experience us—our behaviors, reactions, and emotional states. We serve as models for how to navigate life's complexities. The question becomes: what are we giving children that helps them understand the crises we ourselves navigate? By developing a child's sense of self in relation to others, we help them connect their internal neural systems to their sense of identity. This connection allows children to process pain, hurt, and sadness through supportive relationships rather than internalizing negative self-perceptions.
 
 My human systems science approach integrates knowledge about sensory processing, information pathways, and behavioral responses. By studying complex human interactions, particularly how impaired sensory processing affects behavior and learning, I've developed models that explain interactions within adaptive and less adaptive systems. The Brain's Body Model provides families with analytical tools for understanding emotional regulation and learning problems, bridging the gap between theoretical understanding and practical appli

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:05

Welcome to Doc's Day. Live the brain's body, the ultimate experience. Now, wait a minute. Wait a minute, drop the mic. My new book is out. Wait a minute. Feedback.

Understanding Mental Health in Children

The Crisis of Neural Systems

Speaker 1 0:17

My book is hitting the market. Who isn't interested in mental health? Who isn't interested in children that are born without knowing they have sensitive seeds to have damage because of the way they experience the breath of life? You know I'm talking about the assessment of what happened. And how do you get to the essence of how you help a child in crises, move through the experience of self, because that's what the child feels there's something wrong with them, when in fact it's not something wrong with them. It's just a way that they sense and receive contact, interaction. That's mental health, ladies and gentlemen. And what I'm saying to you in the book, I'm describing how the received path has to be in the lead of the body, and it's all predicated upon whether you are training the child, preparing the child or organizing the child's sense path in relation to the neural systems of the brain, and what I'm saying to you is that's why you talk to the brain of the body. So I'm talking about mental health because, you see, when you have a child, it's a lifelong assessment process, because if a child's in crisis, you want to know what are the limitations of their engagement. You don't want to have a child born and living with you as a time bomb. And I'm saying to you that's the purpose of education and science Utilize, develop human science and the best interest of the child's mental health and self-awareness, because that's what we're talking about.

Speaker 1 2:08

Along that landscape of interacting in a home, school, neighborhood, workplace network, those are the complexities that change a person's trajectory, because something can happen in the home that impacts a child's performance in school, that sends them into the neighborhood, spiraling into crises, looking for an outlet and then find themselves displaced from the workplace. And that's mental confusion, especially when you have a brain that functions. This is the crisis itself. Your brain is okay, it's just that you've been sidetracked by the experiences of interaction with other people. I'm saying processing.

Human Systems Science Approach

Speaker 1 2:53

So when you pick up the book, stop, drop the mic and listen to what I'm saying to you. You have to assess a child's behavior based on understanding what the brain is doing, and that's what I'm describing inside the book and that's what the brain, by learning system, will help you do. So I'm saying this to say don't get in line. Get in front of the line, catch the mic before it hits the floor. Okay, don't let the mic hit the floor and then crash all the things that you're working on, because if you can catch the mic, then you can begin to talk to a child's brain and help them make sense of the experience of you. Wait a minute. I'll say that again. Yes, because the child has experienced you. Wait a minute. Parent teacher coach the child has to experience you. Wait a minute. Parent teacher coach the child has to experience you.

Speaker 1 3:47

That's the complexity. What are you giving that child in return that helps them understand the crises that you're moving through in your space and relaying to them as a model? We're talking about the crisis itself. We're talking about systems that receive bad damage. You can be aware of it, you can be aware of it, you can accept it or you can ignore it, but we all have mental health issues.

Speaker 1 4:10

So what I'm saying is it stops here, because you want to understand how to develop a child's sense of feel for self, first in relation to other people.

The Brain's Body Model Introduction

Speaker 1 4:21

That is, is the neural system's connection to self inside the body, because the kid is hurting and you have to connect with that pain, hurt and sadness and then twist it on yourself. So the kid moves through you. Now you have to acknowledge what you're doing right and what you're doing wrong, through reflection, consequential thinking, in the same lens, lens. You're now moving the kid through home, school, neighborhood, right, and what are you trying to get them to do understand? Now, at the end of the day, if you are a parent, you want your kid in the university, or you want your kid in an independent workspace that provides a level of income over time that provides comfort. If you are a teacher, you want that child to dream of becoming the president. If you are a coach, you want that child to dream of becoming the best athlete, academically and socially imaginable. This is what we're talking about the brain's body, and when you can teach a child that the brain is the body, you hit a home run and just caught the mic.

Speaker 2 5:41

Let me introduce myself as a human systems scientist. I study complex human interactions, especially how impaired sensory processing affects behavior and learning. My expertise in information processing and sensory pathways shapes my approach to designing science-based curricula. My work aims to remove biases that affect people's thoughts and actions, supporting effective therapeutic learning. I leverage my expertise in human systems science research that includes the study of how people interact within organizations and communities, alongside learning, consultancy and applied research, to create practical solutions for real-world challenges. My practice stands out through the integrated use of sensory and neural data bridging theory and evidence-based application. This human-centered strategy ensures that all solutions are grounded in scientific understanding and tailored to real-world situations. I prioritize the creation and refinement of models that explain interactions within complex, adaptive and less adaptive systems. Adaptive and less adaptive systems, for instance, the Brain's Body Model authored by me, has provided families in crisis with analytical tools for understanding emotional regulation and learning problems.