Dr. Brandy Hauck on the Russian Orphanage Research That Built PC Care,

What happens when a clinical child psychologist goes to Russia as a graduate student to study children in baby homes — places where zero to four-year-olds may see 60 to 100 different caregivers in their first two years and never the same caregiver on two consecutive days — observes firsthand what sensitivity and consistency do when they're introduced into that environment, and then brings that insight back to co-create a seven-session therapy that is now turning around parent-child relationships in foster care settings and private practices across the country? In this episode of the Trustcast Show, Zane Myers speaks with Dr. Brandy Hauck, clinical child psychologist and CEO of Red Leaf Psychology in Sacramento, about what she saw in those baby homes that confirmed what most people intuitively know but almost no institution was willing to act on, and how the directors of the control homes responded when shown the data — they said they didn't believe it, and what they were doing was better. Brandy explains the three things always at play when a child is melting down and nothing works — the child, the parent, and the relationship between them — and why the fastest sign that a child is struggling emotionally is actually the one most parents celebrate: the child who is perfectly behaved, never gets in trouble, and never takes a chance. They also discuss why the zero to five window is the most powerful period to intervene but it is never too late regardless of a child's age, how PC Care builds a positive relationship in the early sessions before ever touching the hard stuff like commands and consequences, the foster care story of a little girl who was terrified of her new foster father and how PC Care brought them to a place where he and his wife requested to move toward adoption, why foster children with disruptive behaviors get caught in a terrible cycle of placement changes that makes everything worse, and how PC Care's introduction into Sacramento's foster system during the first 90 days of placement measurably reduced that cycle. Dr. Brandy Hauck is a clinical child psychologist and CEO of Red Leaf Psychology in Sacramento, California, and co-developer of PC Care therapy. Connect with Dr. Brandy Hauck: redleafpsychology.com Email: [email protected] Social: @TheNerdyPsychologistBookClub on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Dr. Brandy Hauck 00:34 Going to Russia as a graduate student — what the baby homes actually looked like 01:03 The baby home system in Russia — why children with disabilities were relinquished at birth 03:38 Three different baby homes in the study — no intervention, training only, and structural plus training 05:03 Sixty to one hundred different caregivers in the first two years — never the same face on back-to-back days 06:01 What happened to kids in the homes where sensitivity and consistency were introduced 07:21 Presenting the data to the other baby home directors — and being told they didn't believe it 08:07 How that research informed the creation of PC Care with Susan Timmer and Lindsay Armendariz 09:10 Seven sessions seems too short — why most of the gains happen in the first seven weeks anyway 10:02 My kid's melting down and nothing works — is this a parenting problem, a child problem, or something else 11:17 How do I know if what my child is doing is a phase or something that needs professional help 12:00 The sign parents miss most — the perfectly behaved child who never gets in trouble 13:04 What is actually going on behind the perfect child — over-control, anxiety, and the cost of the facade 13:38 My child went through a divorce, a move, or a loss and their behavior completely changed — what is happening 14:24 How the nervous system adjusts to stressful events and what that looks like in behavior 15:07 Is there a window where the parent-child relationship becomes too damaged to repair 16:09 Zero to five is the most powerful window — but it is never too late 17:07 A parent loves their child but genuinely does not like being around them right now — can therapy help 18:19 How playing together in session creates a moment where the parent discovers their kid is actually cool 19:27 Family therapy conflict causing families to quit — how PC Care avoids that by starting with easy 20:35 The seven sessions broken down — what happens in each one 23:00 One parent is all in and the other thinks therapy is pointless or is actively working against it 25:24 Where to find PC Care — Sacramento in person, virtual coaching, paraprofessional parent coaching, and group classes 27:13 For therapists — PC Care trainings in San Francisco in August and ongoing training across the country 28:41 The foster care story — a little girl terrified of her foster father and how it ended in a request for adoption #BrandyHauck #RedLeafPsychology #PCCare #TrustcastShow #ChildPsychology #ParentingTherapy #FosterCare #ParentChildRelationship #ChildTherapy #NerdyPsychologistBookClub