The McLean County Behavioral Health Coordination Department hosted its annual Behavioral Health Forum Thursday at Bone Student Center on the Illinois State University campus.
Among the more than a dozen presenters was Jen Woodrum, Bloomington-Normal mental health counselor, who gave a talk on self-regulation.
“Often the way that we view that is that a person is able to manage the emotions that come up within themselves,” said Woodrum. “The ability to self-regulate is developed from relationships and from community and co-regulation, which is our ability to regulate with others.”
Woodrum said one lasting effect of the COVID-19 pandemic has been that self-regulation is more difficult for children because online platforms offer ways to interact with others without meeting face-to-face.
“It has become a form of co-regulation, but one that isn't quite as soothing and regulating to our nervous system as human-to-human regulation is,” said Woodrum.
While pandemic-era remote learning is largely in the past, much of the reliance on technology for entertainment and learning enrichment among children continues.
A report early this year showed 4 in 10 children use a tablet or similar device by the time they reach 2 years of age. While children younger than 8 were not found to be increasing screen time, they were more often using their devices for short-form video content, including TikTok and competitors like Youtube Shorts or Instagram Reels.
Woodrum said while it is nice to be able to stay in touch with others online, especially for kids and teens, it is a practice that can have an adverse effect on the nervous system. She added the ventral vagal system, the part of the nervous system that manages social interaction, can help regulate the body to feel calm, safe and connected.
“And that part of our nervous system has a lot of connections to our facial features, our eye contact, the sounds that we hear, our voice, our perception with our face, to another person's face,” said Woodrum. “So when we take out that whole part of connection with another person, and it's just words on a screen, we lose a really important part of what feels like safety and regulation to our bodies.”
How to manage emotions
There are a number of ways people can practice self-regulation as their emotions change. These methods can help bring a sense of safety.
“Some of that can be identifying even just one safe person, maybe a therapist or a teacher or a friend, that can help us begin to relearn what safety feels like in our body,” said Woodrum. “But it needs to be a very mindful and intentional process that means paying attention to the feeling of safety.”
In addition to other people, comfort can be found by interacting with nature, with pets, or even by looking at yourself in a mirror.
Two terms that Woodrum said help find a sense of self-regulation are anchors and glimmers.
“Anchors are things that we feel a sense of safety from, like a person, a place or a thing,” said Woodrum. “If you look at it, you feel some sense of safety.”
Glimmers are found in new things in the present environment around you that provide a feeling of safety.
“Maybe it is the way that the sun is shining on the leaves, or maybe it is a smile that a person gave me passing by,” said Woodrum. “Being on the lookout for little glimmers of connection and regulation can start to help our nervous system be more primed for that and to be able to connect with it more when it happens, instead of just letting those moments pass us by.”
