The Dysregulated Kid

The Parenting Playbook for Helping Your Child Find Calm in a Chaotic World

Dr. Roseann Capanna-Hodge

Calm the brain first—and everything else follows.

“Why does my child lose it over the smallest things?”
“Why don’t rewards or consequences work?”
“Why do I feel like I’m failing when I’m trying so hard?”

If these questions sound familiar, you’re not alone—and you’re not failing. You’re just missing the one step no one ever taught you: how to calm the nervous system first.

With more than thirty years of experience as a therapist and school psychologist, and as a mom who lived this struggle herself, Dr. Roseann Capanna-Hodge discovered that kids don’t need fixing—they need nervous system regulation. The solution isn’t stricter discipline, more rewards, or better routines. It’s a proven, science-backed method called Regulation First Parenting™, and it changes everything.

In The Dysregulated Kid, you’ll learn how to:

– Break free from the exhausting cycle of yelling, bribing, and punishing.
– Move from co-dysregulation to co-regulation, where calm is contagious.
– Shift from constant reactivity to confident, steady parenting.
– Use small, doable strategies that rewire both your child’s brain and your own.
– Help your child be more focused, independent, and resilient so they can do better in school and in life.

This book isn’t another parenting trend—it’s the playbook for finally helping your child (and yourself) find calm in a chaotic world. With real-life tools, neuroscience explained in plain language, and hope on every page, Dr. Roseann shows you how to stop fighting with your child and start connecting.

Meltdowns and battles to get your child to listen don’t have to define your days. Confidence, connection, and calmer moments are possible—and it all begins when you learn to calm the brain first.

The Dysregulated Kid is the guide every parent wishes they had sooner.


Reviews

Putting the nervous system first isn’t just groundbreaking—it’s a practical lifeline every parent wishes they had sooner.

Dr. Roseann Capanna-Hodge translates brain science into clear, actionable steps. This book shifts parenting at its core, making calm and resilience achievable for families.

In our modern society, we need to revise how we conceptualize emotional dysregulation in children. We are overdue for a paradigm shift, moving beyond behaviorism to embrace and apply recent developments in neuroscience and clinical practice. Dr. Roseann Capanna-Hodge’s framework and especially her guidance resonated with me; while reading the book, I often thought I couldn’t agree more.


Dr. Roseann Capanna-Hodge brings a breakthrough truth for every exhausted parent who feels like nothing works: Your child’s behavior isn’t defiance—it’s the voice of a dysregulated nervous system. Founder of the Global Institute of Children’s Mental Health, therapist, host of the fan-favorite parenting podcast Dysregulated Kids, bestselling author, and mom of two neurodivergent boys, she turned her own chaos into calm and then shared her revolutionary framework—Regulation First Parenting™ and the CALMS Dysregulation Protocol™—with thousands worldwide. Featured on NBC, CBS, and FOX, and named “the thought leader in children’s mental health” by Forbes, Dr. Roseann bridges brain science with practical solutions parents can use every day. After three decades of showing that when you regulate first, everything else follows, she is giving parents what they’ve been searching for: connection, resilience, and generational change. She lives in Connecticut with her family.


ISBN 9781774587331
$27.95 CAD $21.95 USD
Published SEPTEMBER 22ND, 2026
6 x 9 328 Pages
PAPERBACK, EBOOK, AUDIOBOOK