As millions of American parents report feeling overwhelmed by stress, a children's mental health expert is taking a preventive approach to family crises. Dr. Roseann Capanna-Hodge, Ed.D., LPC, BCN, will speak in Orlando at two events focused on strengthening families and preventing child abuse, where she will address the critical question: who helps the parent before they reach their breaking point?
According to the American Psychological Association, 48% of parents report that their stress is completely overwhelming on most days, and 41% say their stress is so high they can't function. The U.S. Surgeon General has issued a national advisory on the mental health and well-being of parents and caregivers, calling parental well-being a public health priority. These statistics underscore the urgency of supporting parents before they reach crisis mode, a message Dr. Roseann will deliver at The Ounce of Prevention Fund of Florida and the 2026 Florida Prevention Convention, themed "Stronger Families, Stronger Florida."
Dr. Roseann, who has more than 30 years of clinical experience, argues that prevention must start before the breaking point. "We can't wait until a family is in crisis to decide they deserve support," she says. "Prevention means reaching the parent while they're overwhelmed, not after they've reached their breaking point." Her Regulation First® framework teaches parents to understand the nervous system beneath behavior, regulate before reacting, reconnect, and then move into correction or problem-solving. This approach is designed for moments when two overloaded nervous systems collide—when a child's dysregulation triggers a parent's stress response, escalating the situation.
The connection between parental stress and child abuse prevention is significant. Organizations like the Ounce of Prevention Fund of Florida and Healthy Families Florida focus on strengthening families before challenges become crises. Dr. Roseann emphasizes that supporting parents is not separate from supporting children. "When we give parents tools to understand their own stress response and their child's nervous system, we're strengthening the entire family," she explains.
Dr. Roseann's forthcoming book, The Dysregulated Kid: The Parenting Playbook for Helping Your Child Find Calm in a Chaotic World (Page Two Books, September 22, 2026), applies these principles. It offers practical tools like the Love Pause®, CALMS Protocol®, and 10-Minute Resets, moving beyond behavior charts to address the nervous system driving behavior. "Parents don't need more blame," she says. "They need a simple way to understand what's happening beneath the behavior and know what to do next."
Her Orlando appearances aim to equip professionals in Healthy Families, early intervention, and child abuse prevention with strategies to support parents proactively. "Every hard moment isn't a crisis," Dr. Roseann says, "but every hard moment is an opportunity to change what happens next."
