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The NeuroRelational Framework is a roadmap for handling children's behavior and learning challenges neurodevelopmentally.
Unwanted behaviors stem from unwanted stress. The NRF is a way of building resiliency in children so that the brain, and therefore the child, can function more optimally.
Higher brain functions, such as executive functioning and social-emotional skills, depend on lower brain functions, such as emotion regulation and sensory integration. Conventionally, we tend to focus on the higher brain functions and often neglect to address the lower components that are imperative for optimal development.
This contributes to the opportunity gap where children in need of lower functioning support do not get their needs met. The NRF identifies those gaps and provides tools for filling them in.
The NRF has three steps....
The NRF is detailed in an academic text called Infant/Child Mental Health, Early Intervention, and Relationship-based Therapies: A Neurorelational Framework For Interdisciplinary Practice by Connie Lillas and Janiece Turnbull. This text is included in the Daniel Siegel-founded Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology found here.
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To learn more about responses to behavior that use the NeuroRelational Framework, read the newsletter.