Hi, I’m Wren bailey.
Social-Emotional Development Expert • Philosopher • Children's Rights Advocate
For nearly two decades, I've worked with children, parents, educators, and communities, guided by one question:
How do we help children become emotionally healthy adults?
Everything I've created—from Mindful Childcare, my work in child abuse prevention and curriculum development, to public speaking and The Social-Emotional Life podcast—has been my attempt to answer that question.
Early in my career, I noticed something that bothered me: The bulk of traditional behavior-management strategies seemed to create more problems in children than growth. Even when they stopped undesired behaviors, they tended to leave children feeling discouraged, misunderstood… and alone. Traditional strategies punished children for doing the “wrong” things, but rarely supported them in mastering the “right” things.
That realization sent me on a decade-long journey. I immersed myself in developmental psychology, attachment science, neuroscience, trauma research, and parenting philosophies from around the world. More importantly, I spent years putting those ideas into practice with the hundreds of children and families I had the privilege of working alongside.
As I researched and tested over time, a pattern emerged: The discipline strategies which consistently resulted in meaningful behavioral change weren't built on control. The approaches which relied on control consistently worsened the situation, and the child’s behavior (or well-being), and the adult-child relationship. But when discipline and correction were rooted in connection, they reliably turned out meaningful behavioral improvement. Time and again, I proved that connection-based strategies strengthened relationships, developed children's emotional intelligence, and helped adults become the kind of guides children naturally wanted to follow.
From those discoveries, Mindful Childcare was born.
Today, I serve as Program Director for SCAN's child abuse prevention education program, where I develop curriculum, train educators, teach prevention throughout Ohio, and advocate for healthier childhoods on a broader scale. Alongside that work, I created The Mindful Childcare Coach to help parents, teachers, and caregivers build calmer homes, stronger relationships, and emotionally healthier children.
Everything I teach comes from the intersection of science, experience, and deep curiosity. I don't believe children are problems to be managed. I believe they're people whose brains are still developing—and when we understand how those brains grow, we can guide behavior in ways that create not just cooperation today, but resilience for a lifetime.
Because I believe something wholeheartedly:
If we change the way adults relate to children, we change the world.
what is social-emotional development?
Our personal social-emotional development determines the success of all of our relationships, because it oversees all of the areas where our social life overlaps with our emotional life:
- Communicating about our feelings
- Resolving conflict
- Responding to others’ feelings
And these three areas are the foundation of parenting.
Though, these three areas aren’t exclusive to parenting relationships; they are the foundation of every single relationship in our life. When we strengthen our development in these areas, we strengthen our personal lives, our social communities, and the world around us.