The Early Roots Podcast

Today's episode is all about how the stress response develops. I see the phrase (and even use it sometimes) "stuck in fight-or-flight" often! It is a description I see a lot for kids who have a lot of big intense reactions to the world and seem consistently stressed or on edge.  In this episode we look at how the stress response develops and what it looks like as we age. If children...

Today is a special episode. I have my very first guest. I am speaking with Andrea Jones.  Andrea is a Registered Nurse with 20 years of clinical experience. She spent the first 15 years of her career working in inpatient pediatrics,  PICU & NICU before leaving conventional medicine in 2018 to create her Functional Medicine practice. She is an author, speaker, neurofeedback practitioner and mot...

Today's episode is all about the different ways anxiety can present in children. Anxiety is such a huge broad topic and can look vastly different from child to child. Its also the most common reason parents bring their children in to see me. In today's episode we look at lots of different ways that anxiety can show up. We touch on common ones like nervousness and avoidance, but also less...

Todays episode is all about different types of play and how they impact development. Our brains are wired to learn through play. It is one of the most efficient ways that we learn. Different types of play promote different types of learning. Today's episode dives into lots of different types of play and how they help your child grow.  Learn more on my website. 

Today's episode is all about parenting styles. Specifically the four original styles developed by Dr. Baumrind: authoritative, authoritarian, permissive and neglectful.  Most of the different types of parenting styles we hear about in pop psychology today can be traced back to the original research on these four. We look at parenting across two domains: warmth and structure and discuss the lo...

Today's episode is all about the DSM diagnosis Selective Mutism. This is a condition I have seen many times in the kids in the office. We will cover what it is, what it looks like and some of the underlying physical and neurological systems at play and lastly the different ways of helping children with this diagnosis.  My website

Today's episode is all about Trichotillomania which is a mental health disorder characterized by recurrent hair pulling. I see a LOT of kids with this symptom. Not necessarily ones who have received an official trichotillomania diagnosis, but certainly many who have pervasive hair pulling. This disorder falls under the anxiety umbrella and is often associated with a retained Moro reflex and a...

Today's episode is all about the Fear Paralysis Reflex and the theories behind it. We dive into many of the intricate ways that the body responds to stress and threat. Our stress response should mature through some very distinct stages as we age and continues to adapt to our experiences throughout our lifetime. Problems can arise with both the development and function of these complex systems...

Today's episode is all about delayed cord clamping. That is the practice of waiting to cut a baby's cord for several minutes after birth. This enables the blood that is circulating through their placenta to pump back to their body. This one simple practice goes a long way in setting up their future brain health. Listen to an this amazing Ted Talk on the topic. Visit my website to learn m...

Today's episode is a mini crash course on primitive reflexes. It covers what they are, why they are important, and how they connect to developmental delays like ADHD and Autism. My personal belief is that an early developmental screening should be a standard part of every developmental diagnosis. Take a listen to find out why! Relevant links: Institute of Neuro-Physiological Psychology (INPP)...

Last month I was invited to speak on a documentary about c-sections in the U.S. The film makers specifically asked me to speak on the long-term neurological impacts on baby. In 2019 a huge meta analysis was publish and found an increased risk of ADHD and Autism for babies born by cesarean. This episode explores that study and dives into the content I prepared for that documentary. It explores seve...

Todays episode is all about attachment and its profound impact on human development. We are looking at how early relationships shape our understanding of the world and future relationships. We are covering some of the work of John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth specifically their contributions to attachment theory. This theory posits that secure bonds formed with caregivers in infancy lay the groundwor...

Today episode is all about hyperactivity. This is a common complaint from the parents that walk through my doors. The term hyperactivity encompasses a variety of different symptoms and behaviors. This episode dives into some of those things and takes a look at the most common underlying physical and neurological systems that impact hyperactivity.  If you have a child that you are concerned about y...

Today's episode is all about adoption. I work with a lot of adopted kids and they each come with their own considerations. Many social, emotional, behavioral and learning difficulties have their roots in early neurological development; the development that happens from conception through infancy. Neglect, trauma, and other adverse childhood experiences shape the way the brain develops and fun...

Today's episode is all about my journey through NDD therapy as a teen. I'm not sure if I have mentioned it in previous episodes but before I became a therapist I went through this process myself. It is one of the things that solidified my desire to pursue this as a profession. If you are concerned about your child or teen visit my website: earlyrootstherapy.com

Today's episode is all about dyslexia! This episode covers a 2001 study that evaluated the physical development of children with dyslexia and found a significant problem with their physical maturity. This study indicates that dyslexia is less of a problem with the brain and more of a problem with the connection between the brain and the body. This may seem insignificant, but it has reaching i...

Today's episode takes a look at some of the most common retained primitive reflexes that I see. I discuss the Moro, ATNR, STNR, Spinal Galant and Palmer reflexes. Specifically what they are, what purpose they serve in infancy and how their improper development and inhibition impacts children as they age. If you have a child who struggles with emotional, social, behavioral or learning difficul...

Today’s episode is all about ADHD. Specifically the question of whether or not ADHD is being over diagnosed. This episode covers a brief history of the diagnosis, the different theories around the increase in ADHD diagnoses over the last few decades and a critique of our current system for helping children and adults with ADHD.   In this episode I reference a lot of different resources if anyone w...

Today’s episode is all about genetics. When I talk about the connection between primitive reflexes, poor brain development and diagnoses like ADHD and Autism I often get the response: But I thought it was genetic?  The quick answer is yes, there is a genetic connection between ADHD and Autism, but saying this can be very misleading. This episode explores the link between genetics and these diagnos...

Today’s episode is all about the history and current research on primitive reflexes. I also cover the three main organizations that offer training on primitive reflex integration and discuss specific research findings. My goal for this episode is to help parents understand what we know, suspect, and need more information on when it comes to primitive reflexes and developmental delays. My hope is t...

Today’s episode is going to cover one of my most frequently asked question which is: Can you help my child? This episode is going to go over the history of neuro-developmental delay more recently called neuro-motor immaturity and the research on primitive reflexes and the connection between physical and mental development. I’m also going to talk about the most common symptoms I see in the kids I w...

Today’s episode is the final part of our mini series on early development. This episode looks at the immediate postpartum period, the few hours after birth, and how this time period impacts our long-term neurological development. We are talking about things like delayed cord clamping, primitive reflex function and development, attachment, resuscitation practices and more. You can find my website h...

This is the second episode in our special series on early brain development. Today we are looking at labor and birth and how this process affects our brain long-term. Many people understand the importance of pregnancy on brain development but often skip over labor and birth and jump right into infancy. Even though labor and birth are relatively short period of time in our neurological development...

This is the first episode in a special series on early development. This series is looking at the neurological development that is happening during pregnancy, birth and the early infancy period and how things that happen during these stages can impact the brain years down the road.  This first episode is looking at conception and pregnancy. We are going to take a deep look at fertility problems, m...

This episode is a crash course in brain development. We dive into how the brain develops and how early experiences change the trajectory of brain function. This is important to know if you are working with children with developmental delays like ADHD, dyslexia, sensory processing problems and Autism. Understanding brain development enables us to address the root cause of developmental delays rathe...