Blog Posts
Navigating Crisis Together
In this 1.5 hour webinar, Dr. Reggie joins Kol Hameshamot in Israel via Zoom for a discussion about how to be there for our children during challenging times.
The Best Psychologist & Friend I’ve Ever Known: And the VOO Challenge that Changed her Client’s Life
I just celebrated my 30 year anniversary of providing for others what I wished I would have received growing up. From the educators and mental health practitioners I had while experiencing trauma, I wished I had felt a genuine warmth and presence that conveyed, at a...
COVID Taking its Toll on All of Us: A New Book that Offers Practical Tools for Thriving
Teachers and parents, I know how much we need support right now. I coped pretty well for a long while, using all the tools you’ve read about in my blogs up to this point… but this is getting to me! My son is logging in right now to his online schedule of classes, for...
Extraordinary Kids Summit with Dr. Reggie
Learn How to Self-Regulate and Why it's so Important! If you find yourself in a bit of a funk these days, filled with a wide range of emotions and questions, and wondering how you can best help your kids during our current situation, do not despair! You can break free...
Why Students Underachieve: NEW MP3 Edition
The 'on-the-go' MP3 edition of Dr. Reggie's groundbreaking book 'Why Students Underachieve' is now in stock AND on SALE from today for $19! (Regular price is $39) Get your copy now in the store on DrMelrose.com Visit the iTunes APP Store now This app gives you...
Stop Spending So Much Money on Healing: 3 Tips for Free Healing at Home (in your Pajamas!)
I can't tell you how often people tell me how guilty and ashamed they feel that they are not making time to go to that meditation group, yoga class, healing center, or practitioner that is going to balance out their lives. They believe that getting to such resources...
“Marriage Story” or Divorce Disaster: 4 Tips to Ensure Healthy Children of Divorce
The much-anticipated film “Marriage Story” premiered on Netflix recently. It was hard to get through. Depressing in enough parts that I watched it in piecemeal. The divorce mediator had the good sense to at least attempt to get the couple - who are parents - to...
Forget about Letting Go: Happiness Requires One Consistent Focus Only
We’ve all been convinced that a big part of how we heal and move on in our life is to let go or surrender, to stop certain ways of thinking, to prevent the different ways we automatically interpret events in the negative. It has been surprising to learn, through...
Prevent Addiction with One Crucial Action
Very recently, I saw a TED talk worth watching. The speaker's final words profoundly summate his content: The opposite of addiction is not sobriety. The opposite of addiction is connection. Social disconnection leads to feelings of discomfort, pain, or fear - feelings...
The One Genetic Mutation We All Need to Know About
Thirty to 40 per cent of the general population has this genetic mutation, unbeknownst to most, wreaking havoc on lives, whether we are the ones not knowing we have the mutation, or others, such as our children, our siblings, our parents, our teachers, or our...
Book Dr. Reggie Today!
Watch this video for testimonials of Dr. Reggie's inspiring work. To book Dr. Reggie or for additional information and resources, check out the website at www.DrMelrose.com
The Most Important Turn-On of Your Life: 5 Critical Facts
Fact #1: Turning on the vagus nerve heals physical disease and mental strife. Vagus nerve stimulation has been shown to improve conditions such as: anxiety disorder, heart disease, tinnitus, obesity, alcohol addiction, migraines, Alzheimer's, leaky gut, bad blood...
Does a Healthy Lifestyle Equal Health?
If I were to ask people on the street what an objective definition of a healthy lifestyle is, they would likely answer that it has to do with eating healthy food and exercising, getting good sleep, drinking lots of water, and finding a balance between work life and...
There’s Nothing Wrong With You
BEST title of an article I have seen in ages: "You Don't have a Disorder.... You have Feelings!" Isn't it true that we have become a generation that believes we are supposed to feel good (or be happy) all of the time, and if we don't, something is wrong with us? On an...
CALM is the Happiest APP of the Year: Download in Time for Your Summer Vacation
APPLE has declared that CALM is the 2017 APP of the year. It is #1 for bringing clarity, joy and peace into your daily life. Download the CALM APP now and start unwiring out of your brain the effects of the build up of stress ad trauma from the school year. We need to...
Educational Law to Change
U.S. District Judge Stephen P. Logan recently ruled the following: traumatized plaintiffs “adequately alleged that complex trauma and adversity can result in physiological effects constituting a physical impairment.” He refused to dismiss the case and instead demanded...
Congratulations 2017 Brooklyn Graduates!
Congratulations to the graduates of the 2017 Melrose Healing Method™ SELF-REGULATION TRAINING™ FOR HEALING STRESS & TRAUMA The training took place in Brooklyn, NY over three separate three-day workshops and was supplemented by weekly video...
What Is a Sensory Room & Why Does Every School Need One?
With life as fast and as stressful as it is in this technological age, and with anxiety at an all-time high, we need a safe place to take a break from it all! This is true for us as educators, parents, and practitioners, and is no less true for children of all ages,...
Are You Experiencing Secondary Traumatic Stress?
What it is and What to do About It. As parents, educators, coaches, public servants, medical or mental health practitioners, we are subjected to the extreme stress involved in helping others. The people we help go through severe pain and struggle as human animals on...
Adolescent Anxiety at an All-Time High: 4 Tips for the Adults in Their Lives
In the New York Times this week, staggering statistics from the American College Health Association were published on the prevalence of anxiety among today’s youth. Hospital admissions for suicide have doubled over the last 10 years, while the percentage of teenagers...
What is it About You that I Can’t Stand About Me? 3 Tips for Feeling Better About Us and Them…
It's easy to spot in another a quality, characteristic or behavior we can't stand. Isn't it? They are being selfish or angry or aggressive. They lust or envy or lose their temper. We see it in them and we don't like it, but what about us? It's harder when someone else...
Start JUST ONE Healthy Habit This Summer: Here’s How Easy It Can Be to Create Change
Dr. Richie Davidson has to be the most fun and popular neuroscientist today. He shares compelling scientific data that is full of good news about how easy and fun it can be to begin a new healthy habit. Based on a plethora of sound science, he insists we refrain from...
A Fun Tool for Summer: Dr. Reggie’s APP is Here!
If you want to feel good this summer, and I mean REALLY good…if you want to reset your nervous system to feel less anxious and stressed with fewer racing thoughts keeping you up at night, USE THIS APP. It’s so easy and fun. The set of audio tools available here will...
Food Matters: Find 4 Tips for A Happier Brain and Body
Please see the documentary film, Food Matters. Its message is something we are ignoring at great cost: Our food has the power to cure us or kill us. When Hippocrates (460-370 B.C.) laid the foundation for modern medicine, he knew the human body had the innate capacity...
One Tip for a Happier Holiday
Holiday time is supposed to be a joyous time for all, right? WRONG. It just isn’t, if we’re keeping it real. There are many of us that find this time of year, as well as other holiday times, a hotbed of triggering experiences. The holidays are mixed with all kinds of...
I’m Not Okay and It’s Okay: 4 Tips That Will Help You Feel Better About You
Recently, I read an article in Mindful magazine with this same title: I’m Not Okay and It’s Okay. What a relief, I thought. Not just for me, but also for each and every person I encounter who struggles. It feels so good to let go of the shame. Many of us wake up...
BRAIN CHARGE SALE: Trauma-Informed Practices Mandatory for All Public Schools
By now, we have all heard of the ACE Study or Adverse Childhood Experiences Study, and how it has informed recent lawsuits filed against school districts. With such lawsuits, landmark first steps have been taken to insure that all American educators learn to meet the...
Helping Children Succeed: What Works and Why
Drawing from important current educational research, Paul Tough’s new book, Helping Children Succeed: What Works and Why, highlights the essentials for effective teaching today. With a growing number of students coming to school having experienced various levels of...
The Easiest Way I Know How to Get Better Sleep
I was an insomniac for decades. I'd listen to others getting sleep in nearby rooms as I lay staring at the dark ceiling, talking and singing to myself, tossing and turning. I generally felt discomfort in my skin as I lay there growing more concerned that there was...
Bad Moods are Adaptive: Here are 5 Reasons to Embrace Them
According to recent articles published in such reputable journals as Psychology & Health, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, and Emotion: Feeling down makes us more likely to choose the safe bet. Low moods tip us toward thinking more analytically. Negative emotion...
Be Cynical Sometimes! It’s Okay…Here’s Why
Scientific research validates yet another of my tendencies: I like to protect myself by preparing for the worst-case scenario. Unlike idealists, I imagine, I tend to expect that what can go wrong, will. I travel frequently, for example, and between the cab rides, the...
Celebrating the 10 Year Anniversary of Why Students Underachieve
Allow me to celebrate with you, this very special year, the 10-year anniversary of my first book, Why Students Underachieve. The book that wouldn’t stop writing itself as I tried to fall asleep at night. I gave in, got out of bed, and recorded the stories of the most...
An Excerpt from Why Students Underachieve
The following is an excerpt from Dr. Reggie Melrose's book, Why Students Underachieve. The book can be purchased here on her website and the multi CD audio version can be purchased here - Why Students Underachieve AUDIOBOOK Edition. Educators are faced with new...
Survey Says, “Self-Criticism Kills:” So How Do We Stop?
We all have an inner critic, some of us worse than others. The voice that from inside our own mind broods self-destructively and morbidly ruminates over negative perceptions of self. Some link this human tendency to early and unpleasant childhood experiences that...
Reporting on “Drugs, Greed and a Dead Boy”
The New York Times recently published an article stating that 80% of all psychiatric medicine administered to children and adolescents is not approved by the FDA for the purpose it is being used. The article positions that pharmaceutical companies are using free...
How to Succeed with E.D. Students in your Classroom!
Receive $150 Worth of Resources When You Register Before Monday Many of you know I am not a fan of labels. Least of all "Emotionally Disturbed." Whether identified as such or not, however, there is a growing number of youth who struggle with emotional dysregulation...
Astonishing Video: Out of the Mouths of Babes
I recently viewed a moving video that had me gasping in astonishment. During the video, attached here for your amazement, a 6-year-old has much to teach her mom about the power of, and desperate need for, self-regulation. You will hear her in her own way demonstrate...
Computers Don’t Improve Student Outcomes
According to a large-scale international study involving more than 70 countries, “no noticeable improvement” in reading, mathematics, science, or digital skills was found in educational systems that “invested heavily in information and communications technology.” In...
Don't Worry, Be Grumpy
I mean it. Be grumpy. Be lazy. Be negative. Be all that you are and know that all of what we are in any given moment is part of what it means to be alive, to be real, and to tell the truth. Welcome to the human race, or more accurately, welcome to our unique clan. We...
Discover The Number 1 Tool To Settle Students Within Seconds…
As I contemplate the best information I could possibly share at this time of year, nothing else comes close to the importance of this video. It’s back to school time and I want every educator to know how easy it has been for other educators to settle their students in...
Am I Crazy? Is the Way I Feel Really all in my Head?
Psychiatrists, Psychologists, and other diagnosticians continue to make two HUGE errors that leave us feeling crazy when we are NOT! They fail to engage in the first two REQUIRED steps towards an accurate diagnosis and effective treatment plan: Ruling out a general...
From Trauma & Addiction to Healing & Recovery with Ease
Yes! Trauma can be HEALED and we can RECOVER from our habits and addictions. The old way of thinking about trauma and addiction boxed us in to the effects of these experiences and conditions for life; that old understanding is just plain wrong. Current neuroscience is...
Feel Good Resources… On The Go!
In response to the many requests I have received from clients, students, and audience members, I have created several audio resources to meet our need for stress reduction given our lifestyle. We are constantly on the go and needing to get done the tasks of the day....
Success depends on ONE skill
No matter how you define success – making lots of money; landing a great job; keeping a great job; staying happily married; graduating from the highest levels of education; becoming a professional athlete or famous actor; you name it – success requires the same...
Join me in Vegas – and don't miss out on more joy!
I love connecting with you. When I do, I try to be sure to share something of value, an upcoming opportunity, or some of my favorite resources. If you'll be joining us at the National Conference on Common Core Instruction on the 21st, I can't wait to see you...
What's Keeping You Up At Night?
Insomnia, anxiety, addiction, racing thoughts, extreme sensitivity and reactivity: these are all the signs of stress. The stress many of us experience now comes from feeling little to no control over the demands of our culture wanting more, faster, and better. When we...
Thank you for a beautiful year!
In the spirit of joy and celebration this holiday season, I wanted to share the video of my recent book signing event. I hope it makes you smile. Thank you for a beautiful year with The 60 Seconds Fix. Much love and appreciation, Dr. Reggie Click here to watch...
3 Tips to ENSURE Learning in Spite of Stress
“Stressed Brains Don’t Learn,” Says Director of the Brain Center for Applied Learning Research Best-selling author of Brain Rules, John Medina, explains that the less we feel in control of stress, the more we experience the type of stress that hurts learning. “If you...
"ADHD Does Not Exist"…Say What?!
For some people, it certainly does! It's important to recognize that in three to five per cent of the population, a brain scan, often due to genetics, will reveal lowered cortical activity in the prefrontal area of the brain causing symptoms of impulsivity,...
Dr. Reggie Offers Training in The 60 Seconds Fix & Brain Charge
Dear Friends and Colleagues, Many of you have been asking for training in how to implement 60 Seconds, the effective sensory toolkit featured in the bestselling book, The 60 Seconds Fix, as well as the K-12 curriculum, Brain Charge. HERE IT IS! A rare event this will...
Dr. Reggie Gives FREE Talk in Irvine, CA
Don't miss this RARE opportunity to see Dr. Reggie in action. As many of you already know, she catches fire. She motivates with practical tools that begin working right away. Come over to Irvine and start off the new school year INSPIRED.
One Quick Feel-Good Tip for Summer
We made it! Summer is here, and we get another opportunity to regroup! Our summers pass quickly, I know, but I’ve just learned something new that will help us use our time most enjoyably while creating big change for personal good. After reading the most recent...
Learn From My Recent Mistake with These 3 Tips
The end of 2013 was rough: Producing, launching, and promoting The 60 Seconds Fix tested my tools like never before. While I was busy inspiring greater peace and balance through 60 Seconds, I lost mine. The loss was brief but intense, and I can still see how I...
The 60 Seconds Fix: The Brain-Changing Toolkit that Stops Unwanted Habits and Starts Surprising Joy
About the Book: The 60 Seconds Fix is now a best-selling book on Amazon! Check out the reviews on Amazon to hear readers describe in detail its effectiveness. It's for ANYONE ANYWHERE ANYTIME. Dr. Reggie gives us five little tools in one little minute, based on...
Your Discipline Problems Are Over: The Data Is In
Eliminate your discipline referrals with 60 Seconds! The most recent data shows that in a ninth grade history class, there was an 87% decrease in behavioral redirection for mild to moderate disruptions. The teacher went from giving 47 disciplinary redirects per month...
60 Seconds Reduces Stress & Raises Test Scores: More Fantastic Data!
After a year of collecting data in the U.S. and Canada at four different public schools (one elementary, middle, and two high), the surveys show astounding results! Across the board, both students and staff report, on average, a 20% decrease in stress and tension,...
Children & Technology: Minimize The Risks With This One Tip
.....With summer on the way it would serve us ALL well to reconsider the amount of time we spend on technological gadgets: television, telephone, computer, ipad, x-box, wii, etc. Neuroscientific findings are mounting to confirm that these activities change our brain,...
Test Taking Tool Raises Test Scores
.....The teachers of students using the 60 Seconds from Brain Charge have reported that their test scores go up when they use the tool. As most of you know students have been practicing their examination skills to prepare for standardized testing. Students use 60...
It's Never too Late!
Scientific American recently published an article that explained how our brains are changed by early family turmoil. Even sleeping infants exposed to the sounds of family arguments demonstrated changes to the part of their brain responsible for regulating emotions and...
K-12 Curriculum "Brain Charge" is now Evidence-Based!
Brain Charge, the K-12 curriculum that increases sensory awareness for self-regulation and student achievement, is currently in several schools in both the U.S. and Canada. The aim of the program is to make it easy and fun for teachers AND their students to reduce...
Educators & Parents: The Most Important Research Study of Our Time
In a previous blog, I reported a research study conducted at USC Marshall School of Business as reported in the Los Angeles Times on July 10, 2011. The more I speak to educators, parents, and mental health practitioners across North America, the more I realize that...
How Children Succeed: 3 Simple Tips
....."How Children Succeed" is an important new book written by Paul Tough. In it the author compiles recent research that points to the essential contribution of NON-cognitive skills to children's success. Many researchers and educators are now grouping together...
Brain Charge Update
Brain Charge feedback from Patrick Henry Elementary School already SO ENCOURAGING: Two teachers attended a recent PTA meeting to share with the parents how wonderful Brain Charge has been for their students. One teacher told the parents that for the first time in her...
California Friends: Come to my seminar in October AND…
BRIDGE THE GAP between what science knows and what education does! Finally! Come enjoy an engaging, fun day of learning, growing, and realizing what we REALLY want in education. All the steps and tools are available to you to create the best year in education you've...
Long Beach Unified Just Got Brain-Charged!
Brain Charge was just launched in Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) schools!! Self-regulation for every student is REVOLUTIONARY and it is happening in my own backyard! I can't tell you how thrilled I am. Thanks to all of you for supporting this new and...
Brain Charge is here! Bringing JOY back into education…
SELF-REGULATION is the single most important foundational capacity for all of learning and adaptive behavior. So how do we ensure that every student possess it? BRAIN CHARGE, the new K-12 curriculum, does just that. Self-regulation in our students eradicates bullying,...
21st Century Teaching & Parenting: Do Just One Thing
A recent neuroscientific article was published in the New York Times entitled, "Post-Prozac Nation." It offered more evidence that clarified yet again the importance of doing just one thing. In order to regulate emotions to remain in the optimum zone of arousal...
Help for ALL Parents: 2 Important First Steps
We all had a dream of what life would be like once we had our children, but few of us are living it. Reality happens and, sometimes, it is far from what we had envisioned. It doesn't have to be that way. We can do better. Whether we have a tantruming toddler, a...
Another 8-Year-Old Wants to Die
I wish I could say that hearing of another 8-year-old wanting to die is a rare occurrence for me. It has become so common that I must write today to implore each and every one of us to examine how anything like this is even remotely possible! And why so many of us...
Happy New You! 3 Tips…
I learned more in 2011 than I have in any other year. When stress is greatest, and we are not at our best because of it, we are presented with a big opportunity for change. The economy has created for many of us the loss of our livelihood, our homes, our relationships...
December 6th Talk – Los Angeles, CA
Hello Educator Friends, Come and learn simple strategies to combat your own stress levels and feel GREAT by the end of your day with Dr. Melrose! We are all SO STRESSED right now! Let's not wait another day to find out how to change this for all of us even in the...
Several Studies Offer 3 Important Tips
1. FOCUS ON PRIDE NOT SHAME: In a recent study reported in the Los Angeles Times, an important finding was made with HUGE implications for both education and parenting: When it comes to self-regulation and self-control, anticipating pride for good behavior helps us...
Professional Development
Forgive me for re-posting this link but I need to make some corrections. This "trailer" or montage was put together to market and promote my work as a provider of professional development. I am blogging the link to encourage you to forward it to any educator or mental...
Teachers & Parents, We've Lost Our Mind: 3 Tips to Get it Back
While visiting friends over the summer, I was disheartened to find that even those I most admire - smart, successful, loving people - are choosing a path for their children that leaves them all miserable. The stress in the home was palpable. After a LONG day at summer...
Congratulations Graduates!
I just had the privilege of delivering the commencement speech to the very first graduates of the phenomenal charter school, Wildwood Environmental Academy, in Perrysburg, Ohio. I hope you will agree that its message is worth repeating here: An American independent...
Keep Your Sanity Amidst the Chaos: One Important Tip (x3)
There is no escaping the collapse of this economy, it seems. We are either losing our job or home, or we know and love someone else who is. Educators have received their "pink slips" as budgets continue to be slashed, and foreclosures are everywhere. I have not been...
Online Seminar: Succeeding with Angry Students
Students are not just angrier today than ever before, they are checked out, shut down, disengaged, unmotivated, and violent towards themselves and others. They go from zero (zoned out) to ten (raging) and back down to zero within a space of a few minutes multiple...
Vlog #2: Responses and the next steps
This just in! Responses and more in my latest Vlog. Please check it out below: Please click here to go directly to the video.
Exciting News!
Hi Friends, Exciting news: 1) MOST IMPORTANTLY: Visit https://www.drmelrose.com/ and enter your email address to receive updates of my latest blogs full of tips, tools and inspiration for how we can all do our part to change the upbringing and education of our...
Public Education: Stop the Testing!
Hi Parents and Teachers, please check out my latest video blog below: Please click here to go directly to the video.
A Follow-Up Article: Why Waldorf Works for My Son
We are not all born equal. At birth, each of our children is born with his or her own degree of vulnerability and resilience based upon both genetics and experience in utero. Experience after birth – the kind and quality of interactions our children have with others...
Why Waldorf Works: The Neuroscience Explains
As many of you may already know, my 5-year-old son, Jules, attends a Waldorf-inspired school. Please click on the following link to read an article I wrote explaining the neuroscience behind why I chose Waldorf education....
Students First: An Educator's Next 3 Steps
With former chancellor Michelle Rhee's announcement of StudentsFirst.org and its initiative, teachers may feel discouraged about the stability of their profession. There is a movement in education, supported by a swelling of parents, to let bad teachers go. What I...
Educational Reform: An Educator's First 3 Steps
Recently back from speaking to educators in New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, I am reminded of the importance of prioritizing in a precise manner when it comes to educational reform. As we consider all the different options we have - more charter...
Educational Reform: Do We Really Need Superman?
Some of you have seen the film, "Waiting for Superman," or at least have heard about its moving account of 4 families struggling with the limits of our current public school system. It was released at just the right time, as educational reform is getting the kind of...
Congratulations Newark Schools!
What an inspiring announcement and momentous occasion for education everywhere! A 100 million dollar challenge grant has been given to the city of Newark to help its educational system become a beacon of hope and possibility for the entire country. I know without a...
Education: Too Much, Too Soon, Too Fast
Educators and parents today have bought into the myth that "more equals more." If our children spend more time in school, have longer academic days, more homework, and less time for "fluff," like music and art, our test scores will go up, right? Not if the "more" they...
Healing a Child Requires Self-Care: 3 More Tips
Children pick up on the energy of the adults in their life. The level of activation in our nervous system has a profound physiological effect on them. It matters that we take care of ourselves in the moment a child is struggling before us, that we ground, and breathe,...
Teleseminar Replay is Available!
WAKE UP PARENTS!!! -- Your Child is Stressed! 5 Ways You Can Heal Your Child I am so excited to announce the availability for your listening pleasure of a recent teleseminar I gave to parents and educators on the 5 Ways You Can Heal Your Child. Please check it out....
Heal a Child: 3 More Tips
There are 3 powerful ways to stimulate in children their own natural healing mechanism. That is, the parasympathetic branch of their autonomic nervous system that causes immediate relaxation and calm. 1. Sleep: Our children need more sleep. Sleep is what lowers the...
Heal a Child Today: 3 Things You Do NOT Want to Do
What we do NOT do when trying to heal a child can be as important as what we do. Though we have love in our hearts and good intentions, we sometimes inadvertently do things that can make things worse, not better. Here are 3 things that you do NOT want to do when...
Heal a Child Today: Your First 3 Steps
There are 3 important first steps for YOU to take when trying to heal a child: 1. Feel your feet on the ground. You may think I'm kidding. I'm not. The first step to take any time a child is in front of you struggling as they may be, triggering you as they may do, is...
Free Teleclass: 5 Ways You Can Heal Your Child
WAKE UP PARENTS!!! -- Your Child is Stressed! 5 Ways You Can Heal Your Child Dear Concerned Parent and/or Guardian, On April 29th, 2010 at 3pm PST/6pm EST, I will be hosting an important, ground-breaking teleclass that will give parents 5 powerful ways to heal their...
Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)…?
A concerned father contacted me recently for advice regarding his son diagnosed with ODD. From the details of the situation it was clear once again that what the neuroscience has to say on the subject is most important to understanding how to intervene (read the work...
Kids Burning Out, Dropping Out in The Race to Nowhere
Parents and educators everywhere, please visit the website www.racetonowhere.com, find the film, see it, sign the petition, and join the movement. You will save your own children and children everywhere from a nationwide educational system that isn't working for...
Third-Grade Burnout: What's That?
Parents beware. Our children look like they're holding it together in Kindergarten through 2nd grade, but there's a growing phenomenon occurring now called third-grade burnout. By the beginning of third grade, many of our children, exposed too soon to too much...
9-year-old Suicide
My heart is aching a little more than usual this week. Another reminder of the fatal effects of stress and trauma in children leaves me feeling more committed than ever to delivering the message I do. As parents and teachers, we can prevent such a loss. Young children...
Thank You Teachers!
I recently finished my fall seminar series speaking to K-12 teachers across the United States, and I was so impressed by their dedication and commitment to understanding their students. They expressed that up to 50 per cent of their classrooms are filled by students...
Resources for Parents and Educators
Continuing my formal education until I was 30 years of age definitely hard-wired my brain to take summers off. But alas, it is time to get back to work. Although I've been seeing my clients in private practice - and enjoying that part of my work immensely - I must...
Update: You Can Heal Your Child
Hi everyone. I didn't know how best to do this so I am trying with my blog. Many of you have attempted to purchase my new book, You Can Heal Your Child: A Guide for Parents of Misdiagnosed, Stressed, Traumatized, and Otherwise Misunderstood Children, but amazon says...
Healthy vs. Unhealthy Stress
Brief periods of predictable, moderate stress are not problematic to us or our children. In fact, stressful experiences - when brief, predictable or moderate - prepare us all to cope with the world. Neuroscientific studies - those that look at the effects of stress on...
Intervene Early
Too many of us are guilty of intervening with our children too late. Whether they are struggling socially, emotionally, or with their academics, we want to believe our children's behaviors are part of a normal transition from one stage of development to the next. As...
The Stress Factor: Childhood Problems on the Rise
I often hear parents, educators, and many concerned others ask the important question (in so many words): "Why has there been an increase in the incidence of various kinds of childhood problems?" We all want to understand why bullying is so rampant in schools today;...
Healing Trauma Reduces Violence
In his "vision of a compassionate future," the Dalai Lama stated that "many people today agree that we need to reduce violence in our society. If we are truly serious about this, we must deal with the roots of violence, particularly those that exist within each of us....
Parents & Teachers: Compassion is the Cure
I am getting frustrated with parents who I know love their children dearly, and teachers who I know want to see their students succeed, who operate as though the ideal is real. They have a dream for their children, a wish for how they had turned out or would turn out....
First Do No Harm – A Proposal For Crisis Intervention in Schools
The last two decades of neuroscientific research have led to new understandings of how the brain and body are affected by crises. In response to this new research, I propose an alternative approach to crisis intervention in schools. The approach engages the oldest,...
Remembering Columbine
Today is the 10th anniversary of Columbine: April 20, 2009. I hope we will remember Littleton, Colorado and that tragic day when 15 lives were taken so violently, and dozens of others who survived were changed forever by the experience. Since then we have learned a...
Interview on ResponsibleTeachers.com
The co-founders of ResponsibleTeachers.com interviewed me last month for a podcast and here is what they had to say: "Dr. Melrose is an amazing resource for anyone who works with children. Her knowledge on stress and trauma and how it affects the brain in children is...
New Book: You Can Heal Your Child
Stay tuned for the launching of my new book, You Can Heal Your Child: A Guide for Parents of Misdiagnosed, Stressed, Traumatized, and Otherwise Misunderstood Children. View the cover and pre-order at amazon.com.
Listen to Dr. Reggie on Amazing Women…
I had a great time last month being interviewed by Dr. Marlene on her radio show called Amazing Women...Brains, Beauty, and Style. Listen to our discussion on the effects of chronic stress and trauma in children today by clicking on my media page at www.DrMelrose.com.
Remembering the Children of Katrina
I received a notice today of a book written about the "children left behind by Hurricane Katrina." I was thrilled to see such a book written, especially because of its emphasis on the need for schools to be prepared to respond effectively to these students' unique...
Pink Shirt Day
It felt good to wear my pink shirt today and ask my college students - future teachers - to remember this day when their students are looking up to them, to be sure not only to commemorate the day each year, but also to live its meaning all days of the year in their...
Wear Pink Wednesday to Take a Stand
This coming Wednesday, February 25th, wear pink and take a stand against bullying, racism and any other form of peer abuse. I, for one, am thrilled, that we are finally taking something seriously that has been minimized for decades, something that we now know can have...
Parents & Teachers: 5 Things You Can Do to Help
Whether you are a parent or a teacher, there are 5 things you could be doing right now to help a child who has been shaken by a crisis, too much stress, or trauma. The goal is always to restore a greater sense of balance and ease in the child's nervous system so he or...
Trauma or Just Tough Times?
Someone explained to me recently that the word "trauma" is used so much today that it has become a cliche; it has lost its meaning. Perhaps we call what isn't necessarily traumatic "trauma," and thereby render the word meaningless even when used appropriately. So what...
What to Call Trauma…
I have a bee in my bonnet about the problem we all seem to have about using the word "trauma." A person said to me recently that she wanted me to impart my knowledge to teachers without talking about trauma because it isn't something teachers need to be concerned...
Q & A: Supporting Children Through This Economic Crisis
1. Knowing that parents are stressed in these tough economic times, is it safe to say that our children are experiencing that stress as well? How? What might they be experiencing as children? The best way I have come to help others understand how children experience...
Article: Group Counseling – Group Therapy – The Process and the Promise
"There is a healing power in community and a great need for our children and their leaders to come together as a community. When children and adults work together in a counseling or psycho-educational style, they share their lives with one another. As a result, they...
Article: Not ADHD, Not Bipolar, Not Learning Disabilities – Trauma
"There are numerous signs and symptoms that let us know when our child has been traumatized. As we review them, it will become apparent that many are also part of other more commonly diagnosed problems, such as ADHD, bipolar disorder, and depression. This has become a...
Article: Trauma 101 – What Parents Need to Know
"Parents of children with so-called ADHD, Bipolar Disorder, learning disabilities anxiety disorders, even Pervasive Developmental Disorder need to know what trauma is for children and that the effects of trauma can be healed. Most times I interview parents they tell...
Alternative Treatment for Trauma
Medical and mental health communities largely believe that the effects of trauma, especially post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), can only be managed throughout the lifespan with medication and traditional forms of therapy. But they would be wrong. In fact, the...
PTSD: Unnatural Disorder or Natural Defense?
Post-traumatic stress responses are too often not treated as such, especially in children, for a variety of different reasons. Sometimes the signs or so-called symptoms too closely resemble the challenges of other disoders, such as ADHD or Bipolar Disorder....
Childhood Trauma and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
I was happy to see several articles on the web last week about the link between childhood trauma and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). When research catches up with our clinical hunches it can be very rewarding indeed. According to the studies cited up to "60% of people...
Watch Dr. Reggie on A View From the Bay
UPDATE: View the segment: How to help kids affected by economic uncertainty - San Francisco News-abc7news.com Dr. Reggie will be interviewed on the ABC affiliated television show, "A View From the Bay" on Monday, January 12, 2009. Topic: Supporting Children Through...
Article: When Special Education Fails
The designating categories of special education have been carefully conceptualized by educators and are conscientiously considered in the cases of students who appear to have a barrier or barriers to learning. Most cases referred to school psychologists are...
This Century's Misunderstood Child
I have been an educator for many years, in all kinds of different schools: public and private; rich and poor. Over the years, I have witnessed a particular group of students being tragically misunderstood by people who have good intentions but who just don’t know what...
Article: Trauma in Children-A Guide For School Nurses
Educators are faced with new challenges in the 21st century as students are exposed to growing numbers of images and stories related to violence, turmoil, and trauma. They live not only within a stressful global environmental context, but also have personal histories...
Why Students Underachieve
I am hoping with enough dissemination of information we will rise up as a society and as a culture and do what it's going to take to put an end to the unnecessary suffering of too many of our children. In my experience as both a clinical and school psychologist, I...
Why Students Underachieve – now available as a CD Set or as an Audiobook (MP4) file
Why Students Underachieve: What Educators and Parents Can Do about It This book is now available as a CD Set or an Audiobook (MP4) for your ipod or other device. Contact info@drmelrose.com for more information.