I’d love to tell you about a family. There is a lot of extended family involved, but in this case, it’s a grandma raising her grandson. It’s a hard story. When I met them, Grandma was preparing to have her grandson come live with her full-time. I began teaching her TBRI® before he moved in. He was coming out of some very hard places.
At nine years old, he had explosive behaviors. Rage would overtake him when he became dysregulated. His fight response kicked in—he mostly hit walls and doors and threw things. His grandma has been diligent in learning TBRI®️. She worked through her own story and how it was impacting her relationships, not only with her grandson but with everyone around her.
Those big behaviors began to fade quickly, though they would still surface from time to time. Then this past fall, something happened. This little boy—now in a man’s body, though only eleven—didn’t go into rage when he became dysregulated. There was no yelling, screaming, hitting, throwing, kicking, or punching. Instead, he sat down in the grass and began to cry.
The tears were hard, but something was changing inside him. His capacity to experience feelings is increasing. He’s learning to understand what he needs and to use his words. In that moment, he was able to be met with love in a whole new way, as his body’s capacity to regulate continues to grow.
I am so grateful to walk alongside families and teach them what it truly means to meet their children where they are at. Connection is everything. I have seen many miracles over the last seven years. This work is a beautiful, humbling, and honoring space—to walk with people in this way, the way of love.
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