Self-Directed Course

Breaking The Stress Cycle

A 12-module parenting course and companion to Stuart Shanker’s 2016 book Self-Reg: How to Help Your Child (and You) Break the Stress Cycle and Successfully Engage with Life.
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Snapshot
• Format: Self-directed • On-demand • Learn at your own pace
• Length: 12 modules (~12 hours) 
• Who You'll See: Stuart Shanker (DPhil), Susan Hopkins (EdD) 
• Certificate: Digital certificate of completion
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Why This Course

Parents today face overwhelming pressures—constant advice, rising worries about children’s well-being, and behaviours that can feel confusing or relentless. Many families are searching for a science-based way to truly understand what’s going on, beyond quick fixes or one-size-fits-all strategies.

This course is the only guided video series built around Self-Reg (2016), Stuart Shanker’s groundbreaking book that has been read worldwide. Six years after the book’s release, Shanker and Hopkins revisited every chapter to bring fresh insights, updated science, and new priorities. The focus is on breaking the stress cycle—seeing behaviour as stress behaviour rather than failure or defiance—and showing parents how to respond in ways that restore energy, resilience, and hope.

Inside You'll Find

  • A chapter-aligned journey through the five steps of Self-Reg (Reframe, Recognize, Reduce, Reflect, Restore) and the five domains of stress (Biological, Emotion, Cognitive, Social, Prosocial).
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  • Exploration of key concepts: the interbrain, co-regulation, arousal regulation, adolescence, empathy, superstimulants, boredom, and the pressures facing today’s parents.
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  • Stories and examples from the book paired with fresh commentary and strategies for today’s realities.
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  • Practical tools, graphics, reflection activities, and a course workbook to help you connect the learning directly to your own family.

You'll Walk Away With

  • A clear, science-based understanding of the stress cycle and its impact on behaviour.
  • Practical strategies for everyday struggles—from bedtime battles to screen stress—grounded in Self-Reg.
  • Tools for recognizing how your child’s stress and your own interact, with concrete steps for restoring balance.
  • A renewed sense of hope grounded in science: stress is not the enemy, but about finding the right match between demands and resources.

Who Might Be Interested

This course may interest:
   Parents and caregivers seeking to understand children’s behaviour through a fresh scientific lens.
   Readers of the Self-Reg book who want deeper insights and updated applications.
   Families new to Self-Reg who prefer a structured, self-paced video course.
   Educators and professionals looking for a clear, family-focused entry point into Self-Reg.
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Breaking the Stress Cycle is the only course that follows Self-Reg chapter by chapter—while also standing on its own as a complete journey into understanding and responding to behaviour through the science of Self-Reg.

MEET THE INSTRUCTORS

Stuart Shanker

Founder & Visionary, The MEHRIT Centre & Self-Reg Global

Susan Hopkins

Executive Director, The MEHRIT Centre
CEO, Self-Reg Global