Martha Welch

Dr. Welch has been a pioneer in the treatment of emotional, behavioral and developmental disorders for more than 40 years. Her research challenges conventional assumptions about behavioral and emotional origins. She leads interdisciplinary researchers studying family nurture's biological foundations. Her Calming Cycle theory proposes that emotions arise from bodily-based co-conditioning mechanisms in mother and infant/child and that emotional dysregulation stems from insufficient co-regulation. Her lab discovered oxytocin receptors in gut epithelium and demonstrated that nurture peptides treat colitis models.

• Holding Time: How to Eliminate Conflict, Temper Tantrums, and Sibling Rivalry (1988) Book
• Calming cycle theory: the role of visceral/autonomic learning in early mother and infant/child behaviour and development (2016) Paper
• Calming Cycle Theory and the Co-Regulation of Oxytocin (2017) Paper