The Play Base

In this episode, Frances sits down with Dr. Ally Durrieu, owner of Nature Nurture Chiropractic, for an eye-opening conversation about chiropractic care through a neurological and nervous-system-based lens.Dr. Ally specializes in supporting children and adults with neurodiverse needs, sensory challenges, nervous system dysregulation, and stress-related concerns. Through her work with the PX Docs (Pediatric Experience) network, she helps families understand what may be happening beneath the surface when a child struggles with emotional regulation, sensory sensitivities, digestion, sleep, focus, or behavior.What You'll LearnDr. Ally explains that stress isn't just emotional — it falls into three categories: chemical (nutrition, toxins, food sensitivities), physical (injury, posture, movement), and emotional (relationships, parenting, work). Rather than eliminating stress, her goal is helping the nervous system adapt to it more effectively.She also walks through the three scans she uses to assess nervous system function:Heart Rate Variability (HRV) — measures stress adaptation and the ability to shift between fight-or-flight and rest-and-digest statesSurface EMG — evaluates how much energy the brain is sending to muscles, identifying tension, overload, and compensation patternsThermography — assesses skin temperature to reveal inflammation, blood flow, and nervous system interferenceFrances shares her own experience undergoing this assessment and reflects on how the results aligned with lifestyle changes she'd recently made.Behavior Is CommunicationA standout moment in the conversation centers on neurodiverse children. Dr. Ally explains how understanding a child's internal nervous system state — whether they're overactivated or running on empty — allows caregivers and professionals to respond with greater empathy and effectiveness. When we understand the physiology, the behavior makes more sense.The episode also touches on how nervous system function can influence digestion, immune health, allergies, sleep, and respiratory function — and why treating symptoms in isolation often misses the bigger picture.Trust Your GutDr. Ally closes with a powerful reminder for parents: trust your instincts. If something feels off with your child, that inner knowing is worth listening to. And for caregivers of all kinds — you cannot pour from an empty cup. Your well-being is the foundation for everything else.Connect with Dr. Ally Durrieu 🌐 naturenurturechiropractic.com 📸 @nature.nurture.chiropractic 🔍 Find a PX Docs provider: pxdocs.comConnect with The Play Base 🌐 us.theplaybase.com 📸 @theplaybase 🎥 YouTube: @theplaybase

In this incredibly special birthday episode of The Play Base, Frances is joined by her firstborn daughter, Chloe Fishman, for a heartfelt, funny, and deeply insightful conversation that only a child could lead.Chloe shares her many passions, from baking, comedy, music, dance, theater, and art, to making friends and (lovingly) annoying her siblings. She talks about finding her voice on stage, overcoming fear in auditions, learning to persevere through big transitions, and what it was really like moving to a new country at a tender age.This episode is filled with laughter, original jokes, imaginative ideas (including a reimagined Pokémon game), and powerful reflections on empathy, creativity, and emotional awareness. Chloe opens up about being an empath, connecting deeply with animals, sensing others’ emotions, and how that can feel both like a gift and a challenge.Frances reflects on watching her daughter grow into herself - a beam of light, a “sunshine girl,” and a child whose courage, compassion, and curiosity leave a lasting impact on everyone she meets.✨ This episode is a celebration of:Perseverance and growthCreativity and imaginationEmotional intelligence and empathyFinding your voice, even when it feels scaryHonoring what makes you uniquely youWhether you’re a parent, an educator, a therapist, or someone who simply loves hearing the world through a child’s lens, this episode will leave you smiling and maybe tearing up just a little.🎂 Happy Birthday, Chloe. Thank you for sharing your light with us.Connect with The Play Base🌐 Website: www.us.theplaybase.com📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theplaybase/🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theplaybase

In Part 2 of Frances’ conversation with Jayme Teplin—former Clinical Director at The Play Base Toronto—this episode goes deeper into Jayme’s clinical journey and what shaped her into the kind of practitioner families and teams feel safe with: compassionate, flexible, and fiercely human-first.While ABA is still widely associated with “autism treatment” and table-based programs, Jayme shares how her path expanded far beyond that traditional lane—into adult services, dual diagnosis, addiction, mental health, justice-involved populations, brain injury, and complex systems work. And the twist? That expansion began as an accidental job transition… the kind that would make most clinicians panic—yet it became the experience that “blew open” what ABA could truly be when it’s practiced as a science of behavior for humans, not a rigid protocol.Frances and Jayme unpack what so many clinicians quietly carry: the guilt and discomfort of early training that didn’t always feel right—and the hope that there is a better way. They talk candidly about rapport as the foundation of change, why consent and autonomy matter, what “non-contingent reinforcement” looks like with adults, and how a truly skilled clinician is defined by their soft skills as much as their credentials.This episode is for BCBAs, RBTs, educators, therapists, parents—anyone who wants to understand what compassionate behavior change can look like when we stop reducing people to diagnoses and start seeing the whole human.In this episode, you’ll hear about:Why ABA’s reputation is still tied to old-school, table-based models—and why that’s incompleteHow Jayme’s work expanded beyond autism into mental health, addiction, justice systems, and brain injuryThe story of the phone call that changed everything (“Surprise—you’re moving to adult complex needs… in 15 minutes.”)Why rapport isn’t a phase—it’s the foundation of all changeWhat non-contingent reinforcement really means (and why it matters for trust)Reading the “small cues” before escalation (and why prevention beats crisis every time)The missing pieces in clinician training: attachment, trauma, neurodiversity, and practical competencyThe myth that autistic people lack empathy—and why Frances and Jayme strongly disagreeThe difference between being technically correct vs. being ethically alignedWhy a credential isn’t the same as clinical wisdom (and what should change in training/testing)Closing reflection:Jayme leaves listeners with a powerful check-in for every clinician and helping professional:“Does the way you’re doing ABA feel right in your heart—and do your clients respond to it?”If either answer doesn’t sit right, she encourages deep reflection… and trusting your gut to realign.Connect with The Play Base🌐 Website: www.us.theplaybase.com📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theplaybase/🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theplaybase

In this powerful Play Base episode, Frances sits down with the one-and-only Alley Dezenhouse, founder of Magnificent Minds (MagMinds)—for a conversation that feels equal parts validating, visionary, and deeply human.Frances shares how Alley’s voice helped her step out of imposter syndrome and into her own truth as a clinician and leader. From there, Alley takes us through her journey: starting in childcare roles, landing in “clinic-y” early ABA environments, and ultimately building MagMinds (founded in 2011) to deliver evidence-based support in spaces that feel like school, because kids deserve to be kids.Together, they unpack what it looks like when science meets art, when data doesn’t equal meaning, and why the future of education depends on moving beyond compliance and toward trauma-informed, neurodiversity-affirming, nervous-system-aware practice.In this episode, you’ll hear about:Why Alley built a school because she hated school—and how that shaped her missionThe difference between “good data” and real learning (and why some graphs can be misleading)The “science in the background, human in the foreground” approach to behavior changeWhy nervous system regulation should be foundational in education and therapyWhat ableism looks like in practice (including the harmful “indistinguishable from peers” mindset)How MagMinds trains staff with trauma-informed care + neurodiversity-affirming frameworksWhy educator perceived competence matters more than checklists for sustainable behavior supportsAllie’s prediction on where education is heading and why the pendulum may swing before it balancesA closing reflection inspired by Viktor Frankl: the power that lives in the space between what happens and how we respondQuote to sit with“I can’t control what happens—but I can control what happens in the space where I process it.”Connect with The Play Base🌐 Website: www.us.theplaybase.com📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theplaybase/🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theplaybaseConnect with Allie📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/magminds/?hl=en💻 Website: https://www.magnificentminds.ca/

In this episode of The Play Base, host Frances Fishman is joined in person by Nicole Pekerman, founder of Health Collective and known by many as the “peptide princess.” Together, they dive into what it really takes to create lasting change, from the stories we repeat in our minds to the systems we build in our daily lives.They discuss:Why willpower isn’t the problem and how habit design and systems create sustainable changeThe power of rewriting your internal narrative (and how repetition shapes identity)Using gratitude and self-talk to shift mindset, confidence, and behavior over timeHow stress, cortisol, and nervous system dysregulation impact health, sleep, and weightWhy medications/peptides can be a tool in the toolkit, not a standalone solutionPractical strategies like tracking, creating friction, and breaking behavior chainsA motivating, heart-centered conversation about health, parenting, nervous system support, and building a blueprint for the life you want starting from the inside out.Connect with The Play Base🌐 Website: www.us.theplaybase.com📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theplaybase/🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theplaybaseConnect with Nicole Pekerman🌐 Website: https://healthcollective.us/📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/healthcollective_usa/https://www.instagram.com/nicolepekerman/Listen to her on The Healthy Pod