Behavioral and emotional regulation, from the ground up.
Big-feeling meltdowns. The shutdown after. The recovery that takes the whole afternoon. We treat the regulation through the body, brain, and family system together. For children ages 5–12 in Palm Beach Gardens, FL.
Regulation is the foundation, not a behavior chart.
Our program treats dysregulation as a developmental capacity to build, not a behavior to manage. Self-regulation rests on the nervous-system, which rests on the sensory system, which rests on relationship. The work starts at the bottom of that stack, not at the top.
Occupational therapy (OT) is core to the regulation work in our program. Our parent coaching is about engagement first. Parents leave with skills that work for their child and the household around them.
What regulation work looks like.
Inside the daily program, regulation care looks like:
- Occupational therapy and sensory work for the nervous-system layer
- Predictable structure, visual schedules, and cued transitions across the whole day
- Co-regulation modeled by adults first: the room regulates before we ask the child to
- DBT-informed skills work in individual and group therapy (emotion regulation, distress tolerance, repair after rupture), the skills underneath the behavior
- Parent coaching in the language and posture that hold a child through a hard moment
What's underneath the behavior.
Underneath behavioral dysregulation, we often find sensory processing differences, anxiety, executive-function difficulty, a history of trauma, autism, and ADHD, usually in some combination. Treating the surface behavior without the underlying capacity is what makes it difficult for parents to maintain a behavior plan at home.
Our team holds the whole picture. The OT, the therapist, the family therapist, and the psychiatrist when relevant are all in the same weekly meeting, building one plan that addresses the foundation, not just the top floor.
Where to start.
NorthStar Day is for children whose regulation difficulties are showing up across settings (home, school, community) and whose families may be feeling overwhelmed. For these families, day treatment may be the right next step.
The first call is a 15-minute conversation with our admissions specialists. We listen first, then point you toward the right next step for your child.
Tell us what's going on with your child.
A 15-minute call. We'll listen first, then help you figure out the right next step.