Why Your Child Is Dysregulated: Nervous System Regulation, Screen Time, and the CALMS Protocol with Dr. Roseann Capanna-Hodge | E178

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In this episode of Made for Health, Dr. Aaron Hartman welcomes back Dr. Roseann Capanna-Hodge, a leading expert in emotional and behavioral dysregulation with more than 30 years of experience helping children and families. Their conversation explores what happens when the nervous system becomes chronically overwhelmed—and why addressing behavior alone may miss what is actually driving a child’s struggles.

Dr. Roseann explains dysregulation as difficulty moving effectively between states of stress and calm. When the nervous system’s “stress cup” keeps filling without enough opportunities to release that stress, children and adults can remain chronically activated. That activation may show up through anxiety, emotional outbursts, attention difficulties, shutdowns, impulsivity, sleep problems, or other physical and mental health challenges.

Dr. Hartman and Dr. Roseann also take a close look at screen time and device dysregulation. Rather than framing technology as inherently bad, Dr. Roseann emphasizes the importance of boundaries, especially because children can have difficulty disengaging once they are deeply absorbed in stimulating digital content.

The conversation then moves into the heart of Dr. Roseann’s work: helping families regulate the nervous system first. Nutrition, gut health, magnesium, neurofeedback, PEMF, and other tools may all have a role, but she stresses that lasting change also requires consistent daily practices that help reduce nervous-system activation and create greater capacity for stress.

Key Topics Covered

• What emotional and nervous-system dysregulation can look like in children
• Why people can appear highly functional while living in chronic fight, flight, or freeze
• The “stress cup” and why accumulated stress matters
• ADHD, anxiety, OCD, PANS/PANDAS, sensory challenges, and dysregulation
• Device dysregulation and screen-time boundaries
• Why smartphones and short-form content can be difficult for children to disengage from
• Why simply removing one physical stressor may not fully regulate the nervous system
• Nutrition, magnesium, gut health, mold, and nervous-system support
• Big-T trauma, little-t trauma, and chronic everyday stress
• Sympathetic nervous-system activation
• Why consistency matters more than searching for one “magic” intervention
• Breathwork, somatic exercises, Tai Chi, prayer, art, and other daily regulation practices
• Neurofeedback, PEMF, and brain-based tools
• Polyvagal theory and vagus-nerve regulation
• Why parents need to regulate themselves before helping a dysregulated child
• Co-dysregulation versus co-regulation
• Generational patterns and emotional regulation within families
• The CALMS Dysregulation Protocol®
• Regulation First Parenting®
• Dr. Roseann’s book, The Dysregulated Kid

In This Episode, You Will Learn

✅ Why dysregulation is about the nervous system’s ability to move between stress and calm

✅ Why chronic stress can affect the nervous system even when there has not been one major traumatic event

✅ Why correcting behavior may be ineffective when a child is already highly dysregulated

✅ How technology and device use can add another layer of stimulation for children

✅ Why supplements or advanced therapies alone may not replace daily nervous-system regulation

✅ How simple practices such as breathwork, movement, art, prayer, Tai Chi, and somatic exercises can become part of a daily regulation routine

✅ Why parents’ nervous systems influence their children through verbal and nonverbal cues

✅ How families can shift from co-dysregulation to co-regulation

✅ Why Dr. Roseann believes parents need to stop personalizing a child’s dysregulated behavior

✅ How the CALMS Dysregulation Protocol® gives families a practical framework for responding differently

Follow Dr. Aaron Hartman and Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine

🌐 Website: https://richmondfunctionalmedicine.com/

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📺 YouTube: @AaronHartmanMD

Mentioned in this episode:

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Back to School Support for Parents

25% Off Back to School Support for Parents

Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC. For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle. Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale

Back to School Support for Parents