Calm Foundations

Calm Foundations

Learn how to stay regulated, respond with empathy, and build stronger connections with your child.

In this section, you’ll discover how to stay grounded, confident, and connected, even when emotions are running high.
Through these workshops, you’ll learn what’s really happening in your brain and body (and your child’s), how to respond with calm clarity instead of reactivity, and how to reset when things don’t go perfectly.

You don’t need to be a “zen” parent.
You just need the right tools, awareness, and compassion for yourself and your child.

Workshop 1: How Understanding the Nervous System Supports Your Parenting

Your Nervous System: The Key to Compassionate, Calm Parenting

Ever wondered why some days you can stay calm through chaos and other days, one tiny meltdown tips you over the edge?

This workshop helps you understand why — by exploring your nervous system and your child’s. You’ll learn:
✨ How stress, safety, and connection show up in the body
✨ What’s happening when you (or your child) “flip your lid”
✨ Simple, science-backed ways to regulate and co-regulate in the moment

By the end, you’ll see behaviour (yours and theirs) through a completely new, compassionate lens.
You’ll know how to pause, breathe, and bring everyone back to calm faster — without guilt, power struggles, or shame.

Because when you understand what’s happening underneath the behaviour, you can respond with empathy not overwhelm.

You can use the resources below to reflect on your own nervous system and put strategies in place to help with you triggers and glimmers.

Workshop 2: From Reactive to Responsive:  Staying calm when it counts

We all have moments when our child’s behaviour pushes us past our limit, it’s part of being human.
But what if you could handle those moments with calm confidence instead of regret?

In this workshop, you’ll learn how to move from knee-jerk reactions to intentional, responsive parenting.
We’ll cover:
✨ How to notice your early “trigger signals” before you snap
✨ Simple grounding tools that help you stay calm under pressure
✨ Ways to model emotional regulation so your child learns it, too

This isn’t about perfection.
It’s about knowing how to catch yourself, reset, and respond in a way that strengthens connection instead of rupturing it.

You’ll leave with practical tools and a sense of calm you can actually feel in your body.

Workshop 3: How Not to Lose Your Sh*t: Real Life Tools for Real Parents

Let’s be honest — we’ve all lost it.
Whether it’s after the fifth “No!”, the shoes that still aren’t on, or the sibling fight that’s gone too far, every parent knows that edge.

This workshop is your compassionate reset button.
We’ll unpack what’s really happening when you lose your cool, why it’s not your fault, and how to handle those moments differently next time.

You’ll learn:
✨ Why shouting and snapping happen (it’s neuroscience, not bad parenting)
✨ Quick repair strategies for when things go sideways
✨ How to build self-compassion and emotional recovery after hard moments

You’ll laugh, nod, and probably sigh with relief, because you’ll realise you’re not broken, you’re human.

This session will help you turn “I can’t do this” moments into “I’ve got this” ones — with humour, honesty, and heart.

Click the video below and watch Hypnotherapist Catherine Thorpe sharing her insights and top tips around

how to relieve stress and keep your cool when your child is anything but

Your child’s brain develops at a rapid rate and is 90% of it’s size by the time your child is 5 years old. This means during the early years they are constantly going through developmental leaps and trying to keep up with learning the new skills they can now access. The last part of the brain to develop is the pre-frontal cortex (the learning brain) and this happens around age 4-7. This area is in control of logic, reasoning, problem solving, decision making and lots more higher level cognitive functions. This is why you simply can’t reason with a younger child and why their outbursts can be extremely irrational; they just don’t have the brain development to process those concepts yet!

Their emotional brain is right in the middle (the Limbic System) and this is the area of their brain that they have had for the longest. It responds to threats and keeps them safe; triggering survival mode. In terms of evolution this part of the brain has kept us alive and safe as a species, but there are lots of flaws to its functions.

When your child experiences emotional overwhelm it’s likely that their brain is processing the environment for threats and feels that it is in danger and needs to respond. To keep itself safe it triggers survival mode, which shuts off the other areas of the brain and focuses solely on getting through the next 24 hours in one piece. This means that even if your child was old enough to have developed logic and reasoning they simply can’t access those parts of the brain right now. The learning part of their brain is completely offline, so trying to problem solve, impart wisdom or make the situation better for them is completely pointless. What their brain needs in this moment is support to see that it is safe and there isn’t any threat. This will then enable it to calm, step back and put all other areas of the brain back online.

Workshop 4: Parental Overwhelm: Understanding Your Stress Response and Finding Calm Again

Even the most intentional parents hit a point where everything feels too much — the noise, the mess, the emotions, the constant needs.
This workshop helps you understand what’s really happening when you reach overwhelm — and how to find your way back to calm without guilt or burnout.

We’ll explore:
✨ The science of overwhelm — why your nervous system shuts down or explodes under pressure
✨ The link between your sensory load, mental load, and emotional regulation
✨ Gentle, practical tools to ground yourself in the moment
✨ How to build “recovery rituals” that replenish your energy and emotional capacity

You’ll walk away feeling lighter — with a toolkit you can lean on when parenting feels heavy.

Because calm isn’t about having it all together it’s about knowing how to come back to yourself when things fall apart.

Click the video below to hear from Clinical Hypnotherapist Vicky Haig as she shares

what’s happening in your brain during overwhelm and some practical tips to help you remain calm

Every calm response starts with self-awareness.
Keep coming back to these workshops whenever things feel overwhelming, you’ll find new insights each time.
Because calm isn’t about control.
It’s about connection.

You’ve laid the foundation now it’s time to head over to the next section Big Feelings and Behaviour to start implementing tools and taking action.