How Pleasure Builds Resilience in Children with Developmental Delays - Dr. Traci Potterf

This episode explores:

1. Anxiety as a symptom, not a disorder 

2. Healthy hedonism — how embracing pleasure the right way supports long-term mental health.

3. The microbiome’s role in brain health.

4. Cultural parenting practices that prevent mental illness.

5. Why we need to stop cleaning everything

Traci is a medical anthropologist and functional health practitioner who helps people uncover and address the hidden physiological and cultural causes of anxiety. We’ll talk about why many people are misled about their mental health, and what parents can do to reduce anxiety in themselves and their children.

We’ll also discuss how Claudie uses sensory enrichment techniques—like scent and cold exposure—to help children and adults de-escalate from meltdowns, fall asleep more easily, and rewire the brain through simple, natural experiences.

Highlights:

• 9:51 – Kim draws parallels between industrial culture and Claudie’s early book for new parents in France

• 11:21 – Claudie shares how posture, nature, and daily sensory moments support development in early childhood

• 12:54 – Traci on cultures that don’t put babies down: “We are nature. It’s not where we go—it’s what we are.”

• 14:17 – Healthy hedonism: Traci reframes pleasure as something earned and deeply nourishing, not just cheap dopamine

• 22:14 – Claudie describes the meltdown protocol: how strawberry scent and ice send signals to the amygdala to help calm intense emotion

• 24:43 – Traci: “I think that’s brilliant. Coming to your senses—smell, sensation—that’s how you help someone ground in the present moment.”

• 32:20 – Traci urges listeners: “Start crowding out junk food with real food. Hide smoothies in a McDonald’s cup if you need to!”

• 39:08 – Kim: “A client asked how to stop their kid from digging in dirt—I’m dying to tell them to get rid of the client.”

• 40:10 – Traci: “We’re sterilizing ourselves to extinction. That child has an instinct I trust. Let them get dirty.”

• 45:20 – Kim and Traci on why parental self-sacrifice backfires and why prioritizing your own well-being helps your child more

• 48:05 – Claudie explains how foot massage boosts oxytocin and why bedtime routines should feel pleasurable

• 50:23 – Traci shares how family yoga and essential oil head rubs transformed bedtime into a joy, not a struggle