When kids understand how their brains grow, they make safer choices. In this episode of Parenting Unfiltered, host Sara Kapp talks with Dr. Crystal Collier—therapist, educator, person in long-term recovery, and author of The NeuroWhereabouts Guide and the children’s series Know Your Neuro. Drawing on 25 years with kids and teens, Dr. Collier explains “brain-based prevention,” or practical ways families and schools can build protective factors every day. 

You’ll hear why delaying and limiting screens matters for attachment, motor skills, and self-regulation; how simple rituals (meals together, chores, device baskets, bedtime reading) boost resilience; and a three-step script for emotional literacy. 

At school, she outlines plug-and-play prevention that teaches executive function and reduces risk across tech, substances, and more. If you want clear, doable steps to protect a growing brain, this one’s for you.