George Floyd’s death was a tragedy and a wake up call — expanding a global conversation about race and racism. And young children have been watching it all. So how do we help them make sense of this? Early Risers is a podcast from Little Moments Count and MPR with frank facts, engaging stories and real how-tos for anyone who cares about raising children with a clear-eyed understanding of cultural differences, race and implicit bias. Hosted by Dianne Haulcy of The Family Partnership.
In this second episode of a two-part series, we continue our conversation with Dr. Anne Gearity about her seminal work in developmental repair. In our previous episode we learned about the basics of developmental repair and how caregivers help dysregulated children become regulated. But what happens when a caregiver doesn’t look like the child, or is not part of their community? Dr. Gearity explains how building a “bridge” with the child can help the child feel safe and help the caregiver earn the child’s trust.
We also learn what developmental repair looks like on the ground. Chantell Johnson, a practitioner of Dr. Gearity’s model, says when kids “don't have the language to tell you, they'll show you.” And that can be confusing for adults who are working with pre-verbal children. But it can be equally confusing for the child, who also may not understand their own behavior. “Kids are really doing the best they can with what they have, even when it's inappropriate.”
Guests
Dr. Anne Gearity earned her Ph.D. in clinical social work from the Institute for Clinical Social Work in Chicago, IL. Research from her dissertation was foundational for Developmental Repair, an intervention manual for behaviorally challenged and challenging children, written in collaboration with the Washburn Center for Children in Minneapolis. This manual is now used extensively throughout the state. She taught for 25 years at the University of Minnesota School of Social Work and was faculty of the U of M’s Infant and Early Child Mental Health Certificate program in the Institute for Child Development.
Chantell Johnson is an MSW Candidate at the University of Minnesota. She’s also the Community Wellness Program Manager & Family Academy Facilitator at the Northside Achievement Zone in Minneapolis, MN.
Discussion Guide
Episode Resources
Northside Achievement Zone (https://www.northsideachievement.org/)
Dr. Rita Pierson - Every Child Needs a Champion (https://blog.ted.com/remembering-educator-rita-f-pierson/)
Developmental Repair Manual (https://www.dhs.state.mn.us/main/groups/county_access/documents/pub/dhs16_183364.pdf) (2012, Gearity)
Dr. Anne Gearity (https://med.umn.edu/bio/anne-gearity)University of Minnesota Dept of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
6 Aug 2025
Rupture and Repair, Part 1
When Dr. Anne Gearity earned her master’s in social work in 1974, the field of Early Childhood was just beginning. As she puts it, “We started to pay attention and really think about what children need not just to survive, but to thrive—and that they can be resilient.” That focus on the child has guided her work ever since. Over five decades, her research led to a new approach for treating childhood trauma: Developmental Repair. In part one of this two-part series, host Andre Dukes talks with Dr. Gearity about what she’s learned from working with children and how caregivers can better understand behavior as a form of communication.
Guest
Dr. Anne Gearity earned her Ph.D. in clinical social work from the Institute for Clinical Social Work in Chicago, IL. Research from her dissertation was foundational for Developmental Repair, an intervention manual for behaviorally challenged and challenging children, written in collaboration with the Washburn Center for Children in Minneapolis. This manual is now used extensively throughout the state. She taught for 25 years in the University of Minnesota School of Social Work and was faculty of the U of M’s Infant and Early Child Mental Health Certificate program in the Institute for Child Development. She completed a master’s in social work from the Fordham University Graduate School of Social Work of New York, NY, and has had an independent mental health practice that serves children, adolescents and adults since 1987.
Her initial role in psychiatry was teaching normal child development to child and adolescent psychiatry fellows. In 2017, she started the family consult clinic to help families navigate potentially confusing diagnoses, treatment plans and related family needs, and provide fellowship with family engagement experiences.
Discussion Guide
Episode Resources
Seminal 1991 report (https://www.ifemdr.fr/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Lenone-1991-Childhood-traumas-an-outline-and-overview.pdf) on Childhood Trauma
Romanian Orphans (https://www.apa.org/monitor/2014/06/neglect)
Developmental Repair Manual (https://www.dhs.state.mn.us/main/groups/county_access/documents/pub/dhs16_183364.pdf) (2012, Gearity)
Dr. Anne Gearity (https://med.umn.edu/bio/anne-gearity)University of Minnesota Dept of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
23 Jul 2025
Developing Identity through Immersion: Dakota Language Nest
The Dakota Language Nest is a preschool where children are developing their identity through immersion in Dakota culture, traditions and language. In this episode we spend a day with the children as they practice the traditions of smudging, tobacco harvesting, singing songs and showing respect and gratitude for the natural world’s gifts. We speak with lead teacher, Katie Bendickson, about the importance of keeping the language alive, and how the language and traditions are intertwined. We also speak with Nicole Cavender, a Dakota woman whose son attends the language nest: “I wanted to give them what I didn't have and wanted, which wasn't just language, it wasn't just answers to questions, but it's really about belonging, and belonging doesn't happen without community.”
Guest
Wóokiye wiŋ | Katie Bendickson
Lead Teacher, Dakhódiapi Wahóȟpi | Dakota Language Nest
University of Minnesota Child Development Laboratory School
Wóokiye wiŋ | Katie Bendickson spent much of her young life on her mother’s reservation, Fond du Lac Reservation in northern Minnesota, before her family moved to her father’s reservation at Upper Sioux Community in southwest Minnesota.
Bendickson is Sisseton Wahpeton Dakhóta. She began learning the Dakota language in high school at Yellow Medicine Senior High, but it wasn’t until college that the language truly captivated her. It transformed her sense of identity, reshaped her worldview and helped her along her personal healing journey.
Her main teaching enthusiasm is nature-based and play-based learning for young children in the Dakota language medium.
Episode Resources
Dakota Language Nest (https://lab-school.umn.edu/language-nest-program/)
Truth telling: Rethinking Thanksgiving: How to speak to young children about historical and racialized trauma (https://www.mpr.org/episodes/2021/11/17/rethinking-thanksgiving-how-to-speak-to-young-children-about-historical-and-racialized-trauma)
MN Humanities Center - Learning from Place: Bdote (https://www.mnhum.org/program/learning-from-place-bdote/)
Who has been a guest on Early Risers
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Resmaa Menakem
T Mychael Rambo
Gevonee Ford
Dianne Haulcy
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YouTube views
4,339
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
4.9 / 5
46 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
7 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 48 / 100
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35
Social presence
0
YouTube
68
Engagement
85
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