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)”
*In my last post I announced my campaign to make phearnik!® available to kids, scared of everything, manage their fear. In this post, I aim to explain how it works. And, how, for children, their loved ones, and caregivers, life is better with the little plush. The phearnik!® Journey phearnik!®, a plush toy, used to …
Continue reading “How the phearnik!® Toy Helps Kids Manage Fear”
“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!®”
“Art and health. No. Brainer.” Wendy MacNaughton, Illustrator and Creator of the popular kids show “Draw Together” aws Studios Art Shop While at the 2024 Licensing Expo in Las Vegas last month to pitch my mental health skill-building toy, I also met with artShine, a home decor licensee. It was one of the best meetings …
Continue reading “Grand Opening! The New aws Studios Art Shop”
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!”
I Want to be a Doctor but I Don’t Think That Will Ever Happen! One day, I asked two of my students who were buddies what they wanted to do when they were older. “Doctors — pediatricians,” they excitedly responded. They wanted to help little kids. But immediately after, they said they didn’t think it …
An Accessible Parent Communication Resource The “Five Basics of Parenting Adolescents Pamphlet” is a handout created from the findings of “Raising Teens: A Synthesis of Research and a Foundation for Action.” The resource is a two-sided pdf that “boils down” the research into a foldable, user-friendly, easy-to-read, and sharable pamphlet. Make Parent Communication Easy Importantly, …
Continue reading “An Easy-to-Use Communication Resource for Parents of High School Students”
Unlock Mental Health and Empowerment When handing out the “Power of Permission” Slip™ you may notice a collective sigh of relief. Along with a room full of relaxing shoulders. Giving people permission to practice positive, safe, and healthy self-empowering behaviors is powerful. It reminds recipients of their obligation to their mental health and social emotional …
A new, fun goal setting and planning activity using making a documentary as a template.
