What Is Regulation, Really?
Regulation is a word that gets used a lot — but it's often used as a fancy substitute for "calm" or "well-behaved." That's not quite what it means.
Regulation is when a person's energy matches the place they're in and the thing they're trying to do. A child running and laughing is perfectly regulated for a playground and not at all regulated for bedtime. A child who can't read the same sentence twice without losing it isn't being difficult — their brain's energy is too low for the task in front of them.
Dysregulation isn't just big emotions or meltdowns. It can look like a child who won't stop talking, a child who can't get out of bed, a child who seems to be looking right through you. Understanding what's actually happening — and what all three components of regulation are — changes how you read those moments.
Why Regulation Is So Hard to Support
If you've ever tried to calm down a child who is fully dysregulated, you already know that telling them to take a deep breath usually doesn't work. That's not because they're being defiant. It's because dysregulation affects access to the very brain functions needed to follow an instruction like that.
You've probably also felt the pull of your own dysregulation in those moments — tired, overwhelmed, out of resources — and wondered how you're supposed to help a child regulate when you can barely hold it together yourself.
This course walks you through what regulation actually is, why co-regulation comes before self-regulation, and what you can realistically do — for the child and for yourself — when things go sideways.
Big Talks, Little Talks
Understanding How Kids Think, Feel, and Behave — One Talk at a Time
Feeling All the Feelings: Co-, Dys-, and Self-Regulation is one of eight modules in Big Talks, Little Talks, a video course series by Kelsie Mick Olds covering key topics in neurodiversity and child development. Modules can be purchased individually or as a complete bundle.
Every module in the series includes two videos:
The professional development component. Kelsie walks through the topic in depth, giving you the knowledge and language to understand what's happening and how to respond. Big Talks run approximately one hour and qualify for continuing education credit.
A kid-friendly video that gives children accessible language to understand what's going on in their own bodies and brains. You can show it directly to a child, break it into shorter chunks across multiple sessions, or watch it yourself to pick up language you can use in your own conversations.
Who Is This Course For?
This course is designed for therapists, parents, caregivers, educators, and anyone who supports children who struggle with big emotions, behavioral dysregulation, or emotional overwhelm.
Whether you're a practitioner looking for a clearer framework to bring to your work, a parent who's exhausted from not knowing what to do in the hard moments, or a teacher trying to understand why the same child seems completely different from one day to the next — this course gives you language and tools you can start using right away.