Dan Siegel: Cultivating Resilience from the Inside Out

Cultivating Resilience from the Inside Out: Developing a Yes Brain in Children and Adolescents

In this presentation Dr. Siegel will explore the nature of the changes in the developing brain and how they set the stage for childhood and adolescent mental, physical, and interpersonal well-being. A “Yes-Brain” refers to how we can support the receptive state of brain activation within our families and schools, as opposed to the frequent, “No-Brain” state of reactivity with its fight, flight, freeze, and faint responses to threat. Childhood and adolescence are essential parts of our development and our evolution—and how we approach these stages with the positive, growth-mindset of a Yes-Brain can cultivate resilience and well-being in youth.

This “inside out approach” to the first and second dozen years of life gives us an exciting new perspective on the essence of development, including changes in the integrative functioning of the brain. It may be best to view these changes not as aspects of “immature” stages of development but actually as necessary sets of characteristics that are essential for both the individual’s development and for the health and adaptation of our species. Further, these features of the developing brain set the stage for changes that not only shape our life as adults, but can surprisingly be seen as essential to how we thrive as a human community. How we support the development of youth with resilience and a Yes-Brain stance can make all the difference in how these important years are navigated well.

Speaker Bio

Dr. Siegel received his medical degree from Harvard University and completed his postgraduate medical education at UCLA with training in pediatrics and child, adolescent and adult psychiatry. He served as a National Institute of Mental Health Research Fellow at UCLA, studying family interactions with an emphasis on how attachment experiences influence and emotions.

Dr. Siegel is a clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine and the founding co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA. He is also the Executive Director of the Mindsight Institute which focuses on the development of mindsight, which teaches insight, empathy, and integration in individuals, families and communities.

Dr. Siegel has published extensively for both the professional and lay audiences. His four New York Times bestsellers are: Mind: A Journey to the Heart of Being Human, Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain, with Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D: The Whole-Brain Child, No-Drama Discipline, and the upcoming The Yes Brain (2018). His other books include: The Developing Mind (2nd Ed.), Mindsight, The Mindful Brain, and The Mindful Therapist. Dr. Siegel also serves as the Founding Editor for the Norton Professional Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology which contains over fifty textbooks.

For more information: https://www.mindsightinstitute.com/