The psychoeducational book 'YOU and Stress… The Brain Explained' by Jacqueline Tournier has expanded from its successful implementation in the Netherlands and Belgium to become available globally in English. This 2025 revised edition aims to address universal stress by making neuroscience accessible to parents, children, educators, and professionals without requiring a psychology background. The book's core innovation is a three-animal metaphor that visually represents brain functions: the Owl Brain (cortex) for thinking, the Dolphin Brain (limbic system) for feeling, and the Crocodile Brain (brainstem) for survival reactions.
Tournier, a systemic family therapist and child psychologist with over 15 years of experience at her therapeutic practice FlowinGrow, developed this approach after observing children feeling misunderstood and parents feeling helpless. Her mission, detailed on her website, centers on the belief that everyone deserves to understand their stress responses. The book provides practical tools including calming breathing exercises, movement strategies, stress-relief techniques, and a free downloadable workbook, all designed to help individuals recognize why they might fight, flee, freeze, or fawn during stressful situations.
The global release comes at a critical time when stress among children has reached unprecedented levels, parents feel overwhelmed searching for effective tools, and teachers need strategies for emotional dysregulation in classrooms. Professionals including therapists, psychologists, counselors, and coaches also require visual, evidence-based explanations for clients across age groups. By bridging the gap between complex neuroscience and everyday experience, the book gives families a shared language for emotions, turns emotional chaos into clarity, and helps adults and children understand each other's reactions.
Already implemented in homes, schools, autism coaching sessions, therapy practices, parenting programs, and youth support centers across Europe, the approach has received professional endorsements describing it as "a must-read" and "so simple it seems too good to be true—but it works." The book has evolved beyond a publication to become a communication tool, therapeutic resource, classroom aid, and parenting guide that promotes emotional awareness globally.
Tournier's broader vision includes workshops, school programs, therapist training, and professional development for educators, all centered on helping what she calls the Owl, Dolphin, and Crocodile brains "speak the same language." The book is now available worldwide through Amazon and major international book distributors, potentially extending its documented impact on over 4,000 families to a global scale. This expansion represents a significant development in stress literacy, offering science-based tools that could contribute to calmer classrooms, stronger family connections, and better-equipped professionals across multiple sectors.
