Dr Maria Cronyn

11/23/2025

That’s absolutely true

New research reveals that babies can already judge who is kind and who is not long before they can speak. Infants are not just passive observers; they are sensitive to social behavior from the earliest months of life.

In controlled experiments, babies watched puppet interactions where one character helped another while a second character interfered. Many infants consistently reached for or focused on the helpful character, showing an early awareness of prosocial behavior.

Other studies using looking-time methods found that babies stare longer at actions that violate expectations, such as unfair or harmful behavior. Their reactions indicate that even without words, they notice patterns in how people treat one another and respond to violations of fairness.

While babies do not have fully developed moral reasoning, these findings show that the foundations of social evaluation emerge very early in development. Scientists suggest that humans may be evolutionarily wired to recognize cooperation and kindness, as these traits were important for survival in ancestral environments.

This research provides a striking insight into the early development of empathy and social understanding. Even before talking, babies are quietly observing the world, forming judgments about who is safe, trustworthy, and kind.

11/23/2025

Robert 💙

11/23/2025

Healing comes from connection. It comes from being deeply seen and felt by another person while we’re in pain. When our distress is met with care rather than judgment, our nervous systems start to settle. What heals is being with someone who isn’t afraid of our suffering, who stays present without trying to fix or dismiss it. This kind of attunement, repeated over time, helps build the internal safety we may have never had. It’s not about analyzing our thoughts but about experiencing co-regulation, resonance, and trust. That’s what helps our systems begin to integrate what’s been too overwhelming to face alone. Healing is relational.

11/23/2025

I’ve had the discussion about the empty well with many children of narcissistic parents in my career. There are many that suffer narcissistic abuse to be sure.

What happens when a child spends all their energy trying to fix a parent’s feelings? They’re left drained, unseen, and without the care they should have received.

(Quote from p. 80, Will the Drama Ever End? Untangling and Healing from the Harmful Effects of Parental Narcissism by Dr. Karyl McBride)

11/22/2025

This is so vitally important to understand. It is the connection and the regulation within the family that will help the situation. No one person in a family gets treatment, the whole family gets treatment because everybody needs to co regulate each other.

I am passionate about sharing the tremendous value of Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB) as a humane, sane, non-pathologizing, shame busting, and actual scientific framework for understanding mental health.

With just a few concepts and terms, we can greatly improve our quality of life, without the hassle of dealing with the mental illness industry and the challenges of its mainstream talk therapy.

11/21/2025

Awwww sad but true

When people say “bring back the institutions,” it’s dangerous unless they mean creating something radically different. Distressed people need environments designed around human needs for regulation and connection. Places where people are met with food, safety, compassion, and continuity of care, not punishment or coercion. Where community holds them instead of casting them out.

11/21/2025

This is my biggest concern. It works for some, and it doesn’t work for others.

Powerful psychotropic drugs are often the next step, even though their combined effects in young children haven’t been studied closely. ‘I was living in a body hijacked by the medication.’

11/20/2025

Secrecy, silencing, and repression keep trauma going. It affects every aspect of everyone's life in the entire family, and it ripples out from there.

Talking about it is the only way to make it stop, and empathy, compassion, and validation are crucial. They heal our nervous systems.

11/20/2025

Healing comes from being seen, heard, and mirrored in one’s real experience. True regulation and resilience arise when a survivor’s nervous system can safely process what happened, with attuned support that respects their current state.

11/20/2025

Yelling at a toddler can affect the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus and amygdala, which can lead to consequences like difficulty with emotional regulation, learning, memory, depression, anxiety, and/or a heightened stress response.

These brain regions are affected because the stress response triggered by yelling can lead to structural changes, such as smaller volumes in the prefrontal cortex and amygdala and impaired hippocampus function, due to the brain prioritizing survival over high-level functions and forming neural pathways that are constantly on alert for danger.

To elaborate, the affected brain regions:

📑Prefrontal cortex: This area is responsible for executive functions like decision-making, impulse control, and emotional regulation.
📑Hippocampus: This region is vital for learning and memory formation.
📑Amygdala: This almond-shaped part of the brain is the center for processing emotions, particularly fear and anxiety.

WHY THESE REGIONS ARE AFFECTED:

📑Stress response activation: Yelling triggers the brain’s “fight or flight” response, especially activating the amygdala and hippocampus. This physiological stress response can last for hours after the yelling stops and can lead to the brain’s being constantly on the alert for perceived threats.

📑Pruning and neural pathways development: During development, the brain undergoes significant “pruning” of neurons. When a child is repeatedly exposed to a stressful environment from yelling, the brain prioritizes the creation of neural pathways that react to danger. This can lead to over-pruning of the prefrontal cortex, which is essential for higher-level thinking, and the formation of an overactive amygdala that constantly scans for threats.

CONSEQUENCES OF STRUCTURAL CHANGES:

📑Emotional dysregulation: A smaller or less developed prefrontal cortex can make it harder for a child to manage their emotions, leading to increased anxiety and difficulty controlling impulses.
📑Impaired learning and memory: An affected hippocampus can impair a child’s ability to form new memories and learn effectively.
(Out of room here - continued in comments)

PMID: 20483374

11/19/2025

🧠✨ MENTAL HEALTH PROVIDERS — YOU’RE INVITED
Open House – Tomorrow, Thursday, Nov 20 • 6:00 p.m.

As mental health needs continue to climb, many clinicians are seeking safe, effective, integrative options to support patients who aren’t fully responding to traditional therapy or medications alone.

That is exactly why I created
Evolution Integrated Mental Health Institute
📍 4343 North Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, AZ
📞 928-390-5655

At this open house, I’ll be sharing how I blend:

• Naturopathic Medicine for anxiety, trauma, PTSD, hormonal dysregulation
• Homeopathy for deep emotional regulation, grief, fear, identity trauma, and nervous system repair
• Physiological support for patients in therapy who are “stuck”
• Trauma-competent, adoption-literate understanding (when relevant)

This is collaborative care — not alternative, not fringe, not replacing therapy.

It’s neurobiology-aligned, integrative mental health designed to make your work more effective.

Many of my referrals come from therapists who say:
“My client understands the trauma cognitively, but their body isn’t shifting.”

That’s the gap I fill.

I’d love to meet you, show you the space, and discuss how we can support one another’s patients.

🗓 Thursday, Nov 20
⏰ 6:00 p.m.

Light refreshments, a brief talk on integrative mental health, and open conversation.

Send me a message if you’d like a flyer or to RSVP.

11/19/2025

🧠✨ MENTAL HEALTH PROVIDERS — YOU’RE INVITED
Open House Tomorrow – Thursday, Nov 20

As mental health needs continue to climb, many clinicians are seeking safe, effective, integrative options to support patients who aren’t fully responding to traditional therapy or medications alone.

That is exactly why I created
Evolution Integrated Mental Health Institute
📍 4343 North Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, AZ
📞 928-390-5655

At this open house, I’ll be sharing how I blend:

• Naturopathic Medicine for anxiety, trauma, PTSD, hormonal dysregulation
• Homeopathy for deep emotional regulation, grief, fear, identity trauma, and nervous system repair
• Physiological support for patients in therapy who are “stuck”
• Trauma-competent, adoption-literate understanding (when applicable)

This is collaborate-care — not alternative, not fringe, not replacing therapy.

It’s evidence-aligned, neurobiology-aligned, integrative mental health designed to make your work more effective.

Many of my referrals come from therapists who say:
“My client understands the trauma cognitively, but their body isn’t shifting.”

That’s the gap I fill.

I’d love to meet you, show you the space, and discuss how we can support one another’s patients.