Laura M. Taylor, MFT Counseling

12/12/2025

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRhVuQrCJwg/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

12/10/2025

Denmark is moving away from the “cry it out” sleep training method, largely due to pressure from over 700 psychologists who signed an open letter citing harm to infant emotional development, leading the Danish board to reconsider its guidance, emphasizing responsive care and secure attachment as healthier alternatives.

Studies find consistently ignoring a crying baby can negatively impact their brain development, increase stress hormones like cortisol and can even affect their future emotional health.

Babies communicate their needs by crying, and ignoring these cries can lead to prolonged periods of stress, causing a rise in cortisol levels. Elevated cortisol levels can negatively impact brain development, brain structure and a baby’s ability to regulate stress even later in life.

Consistent responsiveness to a baby’s cries helps them develop a sense of security and trust in their caregivers. This can lead to a more secure attachment, which is crucial for emotional well-being, healthy social relationships and brain development.

Babies are not trying to manipulate their parents when they cry, they are communicating their needs and attempting to establish a connection. Responding to these cries is critical for building a strong bond and promoting healthy development.

12/08/2025

💔

Many men don’t escape their pain. They pass it on — unless they do the work to break the cycle.

I’ve sat across from hundreds of men who don’t see how their pain is shaping their relationships. They see themselves as good men, but they don’t realize how their unchecked wounds and defensiveness impact the people they love.

They get frustrated. They shut down. They lose their temper and blame their partner for “never letting things go.” They minimize. They deflect. They withdraw. But underneath all of it? There’s a boy.

A boy who wasn’t seen, wasn’t heard, wasn’t allowed to be soft.

A boy who learned that vulnerability was a liability, so he buried it under anger, withdrawal, or control.

A boy who swore he’d never be like his parent, but still finds himself sounding just like them.

Right now, that boy is in the driver’s seat.

That’s why your partner feels dismissed. That’s why your kids avoid you when you’re in a mood. That’s why you keep promising to do better — but don’t.

You think you’re protecting yourself. But what you’re really doing is wounding everyone around you. And if you don’t deal with what’s inside you, they’re the ones who will pay the price.

That wounded boy doesn’t have to be in charge anymore. The real you — the grounded, loving, relational man — is waiting to take the wheel. Are you ready to put him back in charge?

You don’t have to wait until things fall apart to start showing up differently.

The people you love need you now.

12/08/2025

A new study published in Pediatrics reports that children who have smartphones by age 12 face increased risks of depression, obesity, and poor sleep.

Researchers found that the earlier a child receives a smartphone, the higher the risk becomes—rising by roughly 10% for each year earlier, starting as young as age 4.

The study looked at data from over 10,500 participants between ages 9 and 16. Compared to kids without phones, 12-year-old smartphone owners showed a 1.3× higher risk of depression, a 1.4× higher risk of obesity, and a 1.6× higher chance of inadequate sleep.

Even children who first received a phone at 13—after not having one the previous year—still demonstrated worse mental health and sleep outcomes. While the research shows correlation rather than proven causation, experts say the results align with long-standing concerns about early exposure to smartphones.

Researchers advise parents to have intentional conversations with their children—and ideally with pediatricians as well—before deciding on a first phone.

They also stress the importance of setting firm limits and healthy guidelines to support a child’s overall well-being.

12/03/2025

New research using MRI scans shows that one common habit in your baby’s first year can shrink the part of the brain responsible for emotional safety. This area is crucial for trust, attachment, and emotional regulation.

Shockingly, 94% of parents do this habit daily, believing it is helping their child. While screens, sleep training, or formula often get blamed, this hidden behavior quietly affects the brain’s development in ways that may last a lifetime.

The habit involves frequent emotional withdrawal, ignoring a baby’s cries, or failing to respond consistently to distress. Babies rely on caregivers to feel safe. When the brain learns that emotional signals are not met with support, it adapts by reducing growth in the emotional safety circuits.

Experts emphasize that responsive parenting, comforting, acknowledging, and gently interacting with your baby, promotes optimal brain development and long-term emotional health. Even small moments of connection, like holding, talking, or soothing your baby, strengthen these neural pathways.

Understanding this hidden risk allows parents to adjust daily routines and foster a secure, emotionally healthy start for their child.

12/03/2025

Be firm and kind while consistently enforcing rules and boundaries when they are young. If you wait to enforce boundaries and rules when they are preteens, or teens, this process will be much more challenging!

12/02/2025

❤️❤️❤️

11/25/2025

Lust vs Love

11/25/2025

Studies show that babies who sleep near a parent receive roughly 13,000 more hours of touch by the time they turn three. This close contact is often misunderstood as creating “bad habits,” but research proves it plays a crucial role in developing a healthy stress response.

Touch and physical closeness regulate the nervous system. Infants who experience consistent, gentle contact are better able to manage stress, feel secure, and develop emotional resilience. Their brains learn that the world is safe, and this foundation supports learning, social growth, and confidence as they age.

Co-sleeping or keeping your baby nearby does not spoil them. It strengthens bonding, encourages healthy attachment, and teaches the brain how to self-regulate under safe conditions. Small gestures like holding, rocking, and cuddling have long-lasting effects on brain chemistry, cortisol levels, and overall emotional development.

Parents can feel confident that closeness builds the brain and promotes lifelong emotional health. The more babies feel safety and connection early on, the stronger their ability to handle challenges later in life.

11/22/2025

🧠 Impulse control isn’t a behaviour problem — it’s brain development.
Punishing a child for being impulsive is like punishing them for not knowing algebra yet.

Ages 2–4 act first and think later.
Ages 5–7 can pause sometimes.
Ages 8–12 are learning tools — and still fall apart during big feelings.

They don’t learn self-control through fear or shame.
They learn it through co-regulation, connection and practice.

If this hit home, you’ll love my book Guidance from The Therapist Parent.
It’s full of real-life scripts, calming strategies and connection-based behaviour support that actually works — especially in the hard moments.
📖 Available on my website and on Amazon.

11/22/2025

Add this bedtime routine...

11/17/2025

Emotionally Immature People Say These 12 Phrases.

It can be a struggle to communicate with emotionally immature people: they never listen, they get defensive, and they constantly deflect blame. Psychology experts share how to identity them — and avoid sounding like one.