Restoring Resilience in Education
A Self-Reg Masterclass with Stuart Shanker and Susan Hopkins
3 hours | Self-directed | On-demand | Lifetime Access
When coping collapses, restore capacity.
Across early years, K–12, and post-secondary settings, something feels different.
Students shut down more quickly. Escalations happen faster. Avoidance grows. Effort becomes rigid or all-or-nothing. Some push themselves relentlessly and then crash. Small setbacks feel overwhelming.
In response, we often double down on grit, productivity, and perseverance. These qualities matter. High expectations matter.
Yet when brain–body systems are under sustained stress load, this is often not a matter of “won’t,” but of “can’t.” When stress narrows capacity, willpower alone does not restore resilience.
This masterclass helps you understand why — and what restores capacity.
About the Masterclass
Reframing Resilience is a 3-hour Self-Reg Masterclass featuring Stuart Shanker (DPhil) and Susan Hopkins (EdD).
Approximately two-thirds of the learning is guided directly by Stuart through focused video teachings grounded in neuroscience and Self-Reg theory. The final portion creates space to link, reflect, and apply the learning with Susan, connecting the science to real educational and caregiving realities.
The experience blends:
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Video teachings with Stuart Shanker
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Guided application and reflection with Susan Hopkins
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Curated readings
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Interactive knowledge checks
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Scenario-based applications
This is focused, high-level learning designed to deepen understanding and strengthen how you respond to resilience-related challenges in real time.
What You’ll Learn
Drawing from Restoring Resilience (Shanker, Showalter & Hopkins, 2025), this masterclass explores resilience through the Self-Reg lens.
You will examine:
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Why coping collapses under cumulative stress load
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The difference between self-control and self-regulation
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How dopamine and the SEEKING system drive behaviour beneath awareness
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Why urges often reflect homeostatic imbalance rather than deliberate choice
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How resilience waxes and wanes as a brain–body state
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The connection between vagal tone, energy depletion, and recovery
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How chronic activation of primitive emotion circuits narrows flexibility
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Why restoration across five domains is foundational to sustainable resilience
Through realistic scenarios and applied examples, complex neuroscience is made practical and usable.
What You’ll Walk Away With
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A science-informed reframing of resilience as dependent on brain–body state
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A clearer understanding of why coping collapses and why now
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Practical ways to reduce stress load before demanding performance
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Strategies to restore capacity across biological, emotional, cognitive, social, and prosocial domains
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Greater discernment between short-term “push through” and sustainable resilience
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A lens that protects both student and educator capacity
Course Format
Length: 4 core modules (~3 hours total)
Format: Self-directed, on-demand
Access: Lifetime access to all materials
Includes:
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All video lessons
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Transcripts
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Reflection activities
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Interactive check-for-understanding tools
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Scenario-based application exercises
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Digital access to Restoring Resilience
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Digital certificate of completion
Designed for individual professional learning and equally suited for structured team or school-wide professional development.
For group inquiries: info@self-reg.ca
Looking for Deeper Facilitated Learning?
This masterclass serves as an entry point into the 20-hour facilitated certificate course:
Enhancing Resilience: An Applied Self-Reg® Knowledge Course
The extended experience includes:
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Deeper neuroscience integration
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Guided cohort reflection
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Applied stress-state mapping
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Team-based implementation planning
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Exploration of chronic depletion and maladaptive self-regulation
Designed by Susan Hopkins and grounded in the work of Stuart Shanker, this Self-Reg Masterclass bridges neuroscience and everyday practice.
Move from reacting to restoring.
From managing behaviour to rebuilding sustainable resilience.