Tools for clinicians
Play therapy, talk therapy, or one of the expressive therapies? When working with clients, it is often hard to decide, and more often, the answer might be a mix. That’s where my book Wonderful Me: A First Guide to Taking Care of Yourself along with the album SongsToGrow can be helpful!
These tools can be thought of as a creative manual on self-care and growing up, designed to help you work with a child or a group of children in a therapeutic setting.
Wonderful Me: A First Guide to Taking Care of Yourself is meant to be read to children in sections There are many themes, and the child and’or adult can choose which ones to read in each sitting. In most situations, the adult will read the text out loud while the child looks at the pictures. Some sections of the book offer suggestions for activities that the adult can help the child to do, and most sections also offer questions and prompts for reflection that could spark a therpeutic conversation.
The songs in the SongsToGrow album can be listened to on their own, or used to reinforce particular themes of the book. Sample themes include: Respecting self and others, promoting sleep, making choices, finding peace, befriending yourself, and reducing screen time.
I have written a special subset of songs just for use in clinical settings, to address especially sensitive therapeutic topics. These songs can be played for and/or with the child to introduce, accompany, or enhance the work whether it be any mix of play, talk, or expressive therapy. You also have the choice to play and adapt them yourselves (scores available) or use the recordings. Sample themes include: A session starter for children who are reluctant to talk; lack of safety physically; lack of safety emotionally; neglect; self-focused parenting; and boundaries.
If you have suggestions for themes for songs you would find helpful in your work, please share them here
What clinicians are saying about the book for themselves:
The book encourages self-reflection and resilience through interactive activities, making it a valuable resource for parents, educators, and caregivers. Overall, it's a must-read for anyone looking to support children in their journey towards self-discovery and personal growth.”
“As someone that works with kids on their social and emotional learning this book describes concepts in a great way for kids to understand. Will continue to use this book in sessions!”
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“In addition to offering information and helpful suggestions, it also asks questions, giving kids a chance to think about how the subject just discussed might apply to them. This book covers important topics like boundaries, respect, feelings, communication, health, and other self-care matters in healthy, accessible ways. Because they're broken down into sections, it's easy to handle one topic at a time, if you want to read a small piece and then talk about it together.”
“There’s a lovely thread of normalisation and validation throughout the book, gently balanced with encouraging children to take steps to increase their autonomy and independence through self care.”
“Wonderful Me not only teaches why it is so important to care for yourself but it goes into detail of how you can do it! It starts with things that may seem simple like physically caring for yourself but also goes into setting up healthy boundaries. and how we can love ourselves well in different aspects of our lives.”
“This book tackles a wide number factors involved in self care, and explains them thoroughly and in language children can understand. These are skills many adults still need to work on, and learning to look inward at a younger age will help set children up for success.”