Ep 74: Get a deeper understanding of your child's behavior with Dr. Mona Delahooke

Host: Dr. Cindy Hovington, Ph.D.

Guest: Dr. Mona Delahooke, PhD

Mona Delahooke, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist with more than 30 years of experience caring for children and their families. She is the author of the award winning book Beyond Behaviors: Using Brain Science and Compassion to Understand and Solve Children’s Behavioral Challenges (PESI, 2019), and the best-selling Brain-Body Parenting: How to stop Managing Behaviors and start Raising Joyful, Resilient Kids, (Harper Wave, 2022).

Summary:

In today’s episode, we are joined by Dr. Mona Delahooke, Ph.D. to discuss reframing how you understand your child’s behavior – with curiosity and compassion. Learn why Dr. Delahooke believes self-compassion and co-regulation is the proper response to a child’s tantrum. We discuss the loneliness of being a mother and how we can be mindful of the feelings, but not judgemental of them. Tune in to learn about interoception, prediction error, and challenge zones and how they play into dealing with children’s behavior. Dr. Delahooke dives into what the term Body Budget means and how to keep it balanced. She urges us to replace trauma-informed care by trauma-responsive care – pay attention to the nervous system of every child and caregiver to ensure that we have healthy, regulated homes.