Susan Hopkins EdD

10/17/2026

Reducing stress begins with recognizing it.

10/16/2026

There is always more happening beneath the behaviour we see.

On October 21, join Kristin Wiens and me for the webinar: The Behaviour You See Isn’t the Whole Story: Self-Reg for Education Assistants.

Education assistants are often close to the moments when a student’s stress becomes most visible. Together, we’ll explore how a Self-Reg lens can help EAs understand stress, reframe behaviour and recognize the importance of their role as co-regulators.

📅 October 21
⏰ 6:45–8:00 p.m. ET
💻 Live on Zoom
🎥 Recording included
🎟️ $30 per webinar | $150 for the full seven-part series

Learn more and register:
https://www.self-reg.com/srpracticefall2026

10/16/2026

Pressure to appear okay can become a stressor of its own.

10/15/2026

Reflection helps us see what urgency often hides.

10/14/2026

Looking only at the outburst prevents us from understanding what led to it.

10/14/2026

We’re gathering tonight! 💚 If you’ve been looking around your school and wondering how much longer everyone can keep going at this pace, you may be feeling it yourself too.

Join Kim Smith and me as we look beneath that exhaustion and explore what might help restore energy and connection - for our teams and for ourselves.

6:45–8:00 p.m. ET on Zoom | $30 | Recording included

There’s still time to join us: https://www.self-reg.com/srpracticefall2026

What happens when the adults in a school are running on empty too?

On October 14, Kim Smith is joining me for When Everyone Is Running on Empty: Self-Reg for School Leaders.

We’ll explore how a Self-Reg lens can help school leaders understand the stress affecting their teams and create conditions for greater connection, energy and resilience.

This isn’t about asking already-stretched educators to do more. It begins with understanding what is drawing so deeply on their energy - and what might help restore it.

📅 October 14
⏰ 6:45–8:00 p.m. ET
💻 Live on Zoom
🎥 Recording included
🎟️ $30 per webinar | $150 for the full seven-part series

10/13/2026

I often think about the people in our schools who spend their days caring for everyone else.

The ones staff turn to when things feel overwhelming. The ones helping a child through a difficult moment, supporting a family, or holding a team together. They carry stress, too.

For me, Self-Reg belongs at the heart of conversations about school leadership. Understanding stress helps us see what children, colleagues, and we ourselves need and consider how the school day might feel different with that understanding.

This is the learning Stuart Shanker & Co. and I explore in Self-Reg and Leadership in Schools. There is space to reflect on your own school community and bring the science into the relationships, decisions, and everyday moments that shape it.

You don’t need to be a principal to join us. Teacher leaders, ECE leaders, special education educators, and others supporting learning and school life are warmly welcome.

12 modules · Facilitated online learning
Level 1 Certificate Program · $850 CAD
A copy of Self-Reg Schools: A Handbook for Educators is required.

Let’s explore what becoming a Self-Reg haven could mean for your school. Join our October 22 cohort. 💚

10/13/2026

One of the things I find hopeful about Self-Reg is that understanding more can open up possibilities we couldn’t see before - if bullying is something you’re working through in your school or community, we would love to have you join us for Reframing Bullying; we begin October 15, just two days away. 💚

There is a question I keep coming back to when we talk about bullying: What do we need to understand to help things change?

There is so much hurt in bullying - for children, families, and the adults trying to help. We want children to feel safe. We want to know what to do when someone is being hurt. And we need ways to reach the child causing that hurt, too.

For me, this is where Self-Reg offers hope. Looking beneath the behaviour opens up questions about stress, aggression, empathy, and the conditions children need to feel and care for one another.

These are questions Stuart Shanker & Co. and I explore in Reframing Bullying with Applied Self-Reg Knowledge. We bring together science, reflection, and practical applications, with space to connect the learning to the children and communities you care about.

Our next cohort begins October 15. If this is something you’re working through in your school or community, I’d love to welcome you.

12 modules over three months | Facilitated online learning | $745 CAD

10/13/2026

I keep coming back to this myself: rest can start to feel like one more thing on the list. What gives you a little energy back, without asking more of you?

We are remarkably good at turning restoration into another thing to accomplish.

The perfect morning routine. The exercise we should do. The meditation app we haven’t opened in eleven days. The relaxing weekend with fourteen planned activities.
Somehow, we can end up working very hard at resting.

So perhaps the question can be simpler: What actually leaves you with a little more energy than you had before?

Not what is supposed to restore you. Not what works beautifully for somebody else. What works for you?

The answer might be surprisingly ordinary.

10/13/2026

Others (children and adults alike) read our tone, pace, body language, and nervous system as much as our words.