Boosting mental health skill building
Adults and Irrational Fears Previously, I wrote about phearnik!® and how to use it with kids. In addition, the little plush also helps adults overcome irrational fears and anxiety. In the US, nearly 20% of adults deal with irrational fears and anxiety. Treatment often involves exposure therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) which helps individuals gradually confront their …
Continue reading “Trix Are For Kids! But phearnik!® is Not (just for kids)”
Helping Kids Overcome Anxiety If you’ve been following the phearnik!® Campaign, you know it’s about helping fearful children overcome their fears. You’re intrigued by the little plush. You’ve seen the “How To” steps and know how it works. You’d like to introduce phearnik!® to your child. But you’d like to have some help. You want …
Continue reading “The Best Way to Introduce phearnik!® to Kids”
Who is Stella Al Fresco I made a doll and it is not like Stella Al Fresco. Sunday morning in the NYTimes, I saw an article about how Megan, The Dutchess of Sussex, promoted a doll on her new show “With Love, Megan.” Commonly known Stella Al Fresco, Megan’s daughter’s doll is sold with “a …
“My kid is scared of everything” Parenting fearful kids is exhausting. Furthermore, it’s even more exasperating than just “plain old parenting” which is exhausting enough! The fears I’m talking about are the non-life-threatening kind and are often about things other children have no issues with. Importantly, you wonder, why your child is so anxious and …
Continue reading “Support Kids’ Mental Health with phearnik!®”
Managing Fear with Mindfullness With a Mental Health Skill Building Toy I’m trying to get a toy that helps with managing fear with mindfulness licensed. The toy, or plush – a small stuffed doll – helps kids strengthen mindfulness, a social and emotional skill kids and adults need to be healthy. Don’t Let Your Fear …
Continue reading “Managing Fear with Mindfulness is Not Just Sitting and Meditating”
MESH + Toy Industry + aws Studios While perusing an issue of “The Toy Book,” a toy industry trade magazine, I came across a mention by Editor in Chief James Zahn in his editorial about “MESH,” a new acronym for “mental, emotional, and social health.” For me, this was a ‘needle in the haystack’ discovery. …
Continue reading “Mental, Emotional, and Social Health with Toys? Yes, with MESH!”
Something’s Missing In the NY Times article, “There’s a Mental Health Crisis Among American Children. Why?: And the pandemic is not the only reason,” I noticed a missing “why”, a big one. Tingley lists many reasons why we have a mental health crisis in this country. These include issues with data collection, the ability for …
Continue reading “Another Why “There’s a Mental Health Crisis Among American Children””
New Way to Handle Fear My picture book, “Phobe and phearnik! Fight BIG Fears,” is a story about a way for children (and adults!) to deal with fear and anxiety. Compared to how fear presents in other children’s books, my book introduces a new and, may I be so bold to say – revolutionary – …
Continue reading “Art, Artists, Anxiety and Overcoming Fear of the Blank Canvas”