Shannon Preto, OTR/L
Non-Traditional | Audience Level: Intermediate
When we treat children and other clients, we return them to their family systems with new or increased capacities for regulation and emotional engagement. Sometimes the family system integrates in response; other times, longstanding patterns of dysregulation shape how that regulation is received. Supporting caregivers in understanding the development of their own nervous systems can enhance regulation, occupational engagement, and emotional growth throughout the family. By increasing awareness of inherited adaptive patterns, we can improve therapeutic outcomes. The Genogram offers a rapid, visually rich way to explore how caregivers’ sensory systems adapted to their environments and the degree of emotional support they experienced during development. Bringing these influences into awareness can deepen understanding, foster compassion, and support more intentional, regulated choices now and across generations.