A New Look at Misbehavior: Creating Upstream Solutions for Dysregulated Students with Dr. Doug Bolton

About this episode

The episode discusses behavior and discipline strategies for dysregulated students with Dr. Doug Bolton, emphasizing upstream solutions and understanding the root causes of misbehavior.

This episode will be the final one of 2025, as we take a break from the podcast over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Before we introduce today’s topic and guest, we want to address the “elephant in the room”: the shifts happening in the Department of Education under the Trump administration. Just a heads-up: following us on Instagram is the best way to stay up to date on current happenings in our world. Please keep in touch! Today’s topic is behavior and discipline with our guest, Dr. Doug Bolton. Join us! Dr. Doug Bolton is a clinical psychologist who has always been drawn to working with kids who experience behavioral problems. Knowing that being in schools gives him the best vantage point from which to help kids, Doug became a school psychologist and later a principal at a therapeutic school. He is currently a consultant working with families to help vulnerable kids become more resilient. From his unique perspective and wide range of experience, he wrote the book Untethered . Show Highlights: When it comes to discipline and punishment with our kids, we are getting it wrong. Incentives, motivations, and punishments Regulation and dysregulation show up differently for…

People in this episode

Host: Inclusive Education Project

Guest: Dr. Doug Bolton

Topics covered

• behavior and discipline
• dysregulated students
• upstream solutions
• academic rigor
• resilience in kids

Keywords

• misbehavior
• dysregulation
• behavioral problems
• school psychology
• resilience
• academic expectations

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Department of Education

Books & works: Untethered

More episodes of Inclusive Education Project (IEP) Podcast

• A Parent’s Guide to Transition IEP Meetings · June 9, 2026 · 21 min
• The Reading Brain: Understanding Structured Literacy with Tara Giddings · May 26, 2026 · 25 min
• 369: The Power of Real Inclusion with Andrew Goff, Ed.D. · May 12, 2026 · 30 min
• IEP Meetings & Beyond: Advocate for Services, Placement & Success · April 28, 2026 · 23 min
• Don’t Wait: The Critical Window for TK & Kindergarten IEPs (And Why Early Intervention Matters) · April 14, 2026 · 27 min
• Analyzing School Non-Attendance Data: Where Do We Go From Here? with Dr. Dennis Lefevre · March 31, 2026 · 23 min