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Naive Perceptions is a hybrid memoir and practice guide that examines the emotional underpinnings of adult behavior in schools, youth sports, and households.  I combine personal narratives with evidence-informed insight, my book argues that meaningful improvement in student well-being and school climate begins not with new programs for children, but with deeper self-understanding and emotional repair among the adults who teach, coach, and parent them.

 

My book is divided into three parts: The Wound, The Mirror, and The Repair.

 

Part I traces my childhood experiences with alcoholism, separation, emotional control, grief, and perfectionism, establishing how shame becomes embedded in the nervous system.

 

Part II examines adulthood as the mirror where unresolved wounds reappear in classrooms, coaching roles, relationships, and parenting.

 

Part III provides practical frameworks—including Shame’s First Language, SRR (Spot → Regulate → Respond), and TCP cards—that adults can apply immediately to improve emotional climate in teaching, coaching, and parenting environments.

 

The narrative is accessible, emotionally grounded, and practical. It provides daily-life scenarios in special education classrooms, youth sports, and family interactions to illustrate how adult regulation transforms outcomes for children.

 

My book contributes a distinctive, practice-based perspective to discussions of SEL, youth development, trauma-informed teaching, and school climate improvement.