Non-Formularity: A Non-Pathologising Approach to Understand and Support Children's Needs with Thedy Veliz

In this episode, I'm joined by Dr Thedy Veliz, a child and family therapist and founder of the Institute for Non-Formulaic Youth, to explore his framework for non-formularity.

Thedy Veliz, PhD, is a child and family therapist in private practice in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is the founder of the Institute for Non-Formulaic Youth. He recently completed his PhD at the California Institute of Integral Studies which is based in San Francisco. Dr. Veliz primarily works with parents of difficult children to help them understand the source of their children’s behavioral, learning, social, and emotional challenges. This understanding is then used to adjust their parenting interventions to downregulate their children’s sensitive nervous system. Dr. Veliz has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, a master’s in business administration, and a master’s in counseling psychology. Prior to becoming a psychotherapist, he held positions in engineering design and finance management at energy and technology companies. 

Dr Thedy Veliz makes the case that these children aren't broken or bad, they're wired with a nervous system that's exquisitely susceptible to their environment, and that the variable we can actually change is the environment around them, not the child. We talk about why punishment so often backfires, why behaviour is the last thing to surface after a long and invisible build-up of stress, and the powerful shift from correcting our children to connecting with them. Thedy also shares the PACE stance for parents (Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity, Empathy) and the link between this sensitive neurobiology and real gifts like creativity, empathy and a fierce sense of social justice.

Find out more at  https://www.nonformularity.com/ where you can also download Thedy's free parenting guide.