The psychoeducational book 'YOU and Stress… The Brain Explained' by Jacqueline Tournier has launched into the global English-speaking market following its success in the Netherlands and Belgium, where it transformed the emotional lives of more than 4,000 families, educators, therapists, and children. This newly released 4th, revised 2025 edition brings a simple, science-based, and compassion-centered approach to stress literacy to a worldwide audience. The book is designed for parents and children ages six and older, schools and teachers, therapists, psychologists, counselors, daycare centers, youth-support workers, coaches, social workers, healthcare professionals, and any adult or child who has felt overwhelmed by emotions they could not understand or explain.
Stress is universal, and understanding it should be accessible to everyone, not just those with a psychology background. Jacqueline Tournier, a systemic family therapist, child psychologist, and mother of three with over 15 years of experience at her therapeutic practice FlowinGrow, created the book to help people understand trauma, attachment, fear, anger, stress, and emotional overload. Her mission, detailed on her website, is that everyone deserves to understand their stress and what happens to the brain and behavior.
The book introduces a three-animal metaphor to change how the world understands stress, using full-color illustrations of brain characters: the Owl Brain (cortex) as the thinker, the Dolphin Brain (limbic system) as the feeler, and the Crocodile Brain (brainstem) as the survival reactor. This metaphor, central to Jacqueline's international workshops and trainings, gives children and adults a simple visual language to explain why people fight, flee, freeze, or fawn and how to return to emotional safety. The book includes a calming breathing exercise, movement and grounding tools, step-by-step stress-relief strategies, a free downloadable workbook, and visuals that help children see what is happening inside their brain.
Across Belgium and the Netherlands, the book has been used in homes, schools, autism coaching sessions, therapy practices, parenting programs, and youth support centers. Professional endorsements describe it as a must-read and an eye-opener for parents and children, with one autism coach noting it gives children words and images for their behavior and helps parents react with calmness. The book has become more than a publication; it is a communication tool, therapeutic tool, classroom tool, parenting tool, and global emotional-awareness tool.
The world needs this book now because stress among children is higher than ever, parents are overwhelmed and searching for tools that work, teachers need simple strategies to manage emotional dysregulation in classrooms, therapists need visual, evidence-based explanations for clients of all ages, and adults need to understand their reactions, shutdowns, and emotional triggers. The book bridges the gap between science and everyday life, gives families a shared language for feelings, turns emotional chaos into clarity, helps adults and children understand one another, and offers joy, humor, color, and easy-to-understand brain science.
Jacqueline wrote the original version in 2019 after years of watching children feel misunderstood and parents feel helpless. As described on her website and in her workshops, she created the book to give families hope, understanding, and a kinder perspective on emotional reactions. Her message is that stress is not the enemy, disconnection is, and with this practical, science-based tool, it is easy to understand and manage stress and keep the connection. Beyond the book, Jacqueline provides parent workshops, school programs, therapist training sessions, one-on-one coaching, and professional development for educators, all centered on helping the Owl, Dolphin, and Crocodile speak the same language.
'YOU and Stress… The Brain Explained' is now available worldwide through Amazon and all major international book distributors. If over 4,000 people were helped in one small linguistic region, the global impact could include children who understand their big feelings, parents who finally know how to help, calmer classrooms, stronger families, and professionals equipped with simple, science-based tools.
