Occupational therapy

Poor impulse control,
task focus,
emotional regulation,
or social skills

Self-regulation intervention successfully treats these issues

What is self regulation?

Self-regulation – sometimes referred to as self-control or self-management – is a complex and multi-faceted skill, linked to several parts of the brain. Self-regulation is our ability to adjust our level of alertness and arousal, and our display of emotions through our behavior to attain our goals in socially adaptive ways.

While working with children in the 1990s as an occupational therapist, Jeanne began incorporating elements of “self regulation” into treatment with clients who exhibited challenges that would respond to intervention treatment. The outcomes showed successful school participation, higher self esteem and deeper confidence in the children and adults she treated.

This success prompted Jeanne to return to graduate school at Washington University to expand on the positive outcomes of this work and earn her doctorate in occupational therapy. Following her 2010 graduation, she developed a comprehensive self-regulation program for the university. She then began formal training in mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in the curriculum developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn.

more about self-regulation treatment

more about mindfulness training

Who can benefit from self- regulation intervention?

A 6-year-old girl will only wear the same outfit every day for over 4 months, refusing all her other clothes. Her mother washes the outfit every night until the clothes are threadbare and mornings before school become filled with tension and tears.

A 9-year-old boy, a bright child from a stable home, gets expelled from his private elementary school for a series of behaviors including hitting a teacher and throwing a book at a classmate.