Shanker Self-Reg® is a powerful method for understanding stress and managing tension and energy.

When an individual’s stress levels are too high, various systems for thinking and metabolic recovery are compromised. The signs of dysregulation can show up in the behaviour, mood, attention and physical well-being of a child, teen or adult. Self-Reg, the topic and title of Dr. Shanker’s recently published book, amounts to a paradigm revolution in how we see children and youth (and ourselves) and the different kind of stresses they are struggling with in one or, as is often the case, all five of the domains of Shanker Self-Reg®: biological, emotion, cognitive, social, and prosocial.

Shanker Self-Reg®, often referred to as The Shanker Method®, or simply, Self-Reg, is about understanding the nature of stress and the myriad hidden as well as overt stressors that children and youth must contend with today. It is about recognizing the difference between misbehaviour and stress behaviour, and noticing subtle signs of stress behaviour that we never saw or understood before.

Shanker Self-Reg® is about pausing to ask “Why am I seeing this behaviour?” and “Why now?” before we react. It is about exploring and testing out routines, environments and activities to enhance self-regulation. It is about truly connecting to the self-regulation needs and resources of a family, school or community, and the transformation from being a “service provider” or an “institution” to becoming a “Self-Reg Haven.”