Neurobiology-Guided Therapy

Child’s mental template:

1. 1.  If the child is calm – he/she has the ability to form healthy attachments.
   2. Anxious and vulnerable – When a child is over-stimulated their behavior becomes frantic, irritable, and controlling and there is no ability to learn and grow.

In a state of fear we use the older, more primitive parts of our brain. Chronic stress triggers neural pathways and overdevelops the parts of the brain that manage fear and anxiety. These children tend to focus on survival and responding to threats. Traumatized brains continue to react even after placement in a safe and healthy family.