In this groundbreaking exploration of the brain mechanisms related to healthy caregiving, attachment experts Daniel A. Hughes and Jonathan Baylin guide readers through the complex network of neural processes, hormones, and chemicals that drive—and sometimes hinder—our caregiving impulses, unveiling the mysteries of the parental brain. The greatest challenge for parents, as Hughes and Baylin explain, is to learn how to regulate the emotions that arise—to experience them deeply and honestly, while remaining grounded and mindful in order to maintain the parent-child relationship. The pressures that can lead to “blocked” or dysfunctional caregiving can affect the brain's inherent caregiving processes and negatively impact our ability to do this.
While the parent-child relationship can give rise to deep empathy and a strong desire to care for our children, it can also trigger self-protective emotions rooted in our early attachment relationships and provide perspective on “non-parental” impulses. Learning to be “good parents” depends on the ability to manage this pressure, understand the brain signals, and respond in such a way as to bring the brain back on track.
Hughes and Baylin define five primary “systems” of caregiving as they relate to the brain, explaining how they function when parental care is strong and what happens when it is undermined or “blocked.” With this awareness, we learn how to approach our children with renewed playfulness, acceptance, curiosity, and empathy, recalibrating our caregiving systems, promoting deeper social engagement, and facilitating our children's development.
Rich with clinical insight, illuminating case examples, and helpful illustrations, Brain-Based Parenting brings the science of caregiving to light for the first time. We can not only manage our children's behavior but also develop our “parental brains,” and with a better understanding of the neurobiological roots of our emotions and our own attachment histories, we can transform a tense parental relationship into one that is open, regulated, and full of love.
