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by Frank Anderson, Richard Schwartz, & Martha Sweezy Using a non-pathologizing, accelerated approach -- rooted in neuroscience -- IFS applies inner resources and self-compassion for healing emotional wounding at its core. This new manual offers straight-forward explanations and illustrates a wide variety of applications. Easy to read and highly practical. - Step-by-step techniques - Annotated case examples - Unique meditations - Downloadable exercises, worksheets IFS is Evidence-Based Thirty years ago, IFS creator Richard Schwartz, PhD, listened to his clients describing the behaviors and fears of their most extreme parts. he found that the inner world of all his clients was characterized by parts who have a positive intent for the client but had taken on extreme roles in an effort to be safe. He also discovered that these extreme parts would become less disruptive and more cooperative once their concerns were addressed and they felt safer. IFS views psychic multiplicity as the norm: we all have parts. In addition, every part has a good intention for the client, and every part has value. When clients listen to all their parts, they can heal their wounded parts. Today, IFS, which has established a legacy of efficiency and effectiveness in treating many mental health issues, is being heralded by Dr. Bessel van der Kolk as a treatment that all clinicians should know. -
A New Way of Understanding Yourself and Your Relationships by Annette Kussin M.S.W. RSW How do we make sense of our relationships -- successes and failures, preferences and challenges, past and present. And after we make sense of them all -- what do we do to increase the successes that we are striving to attain. In It's Attachment, Kussin offers us a comprehensive overview of this dominant theory of human development and relationships in a way that gives us both understanding and practical ideas for constructive changes. She shows us the central features of the main attachment patterns that are present throughout childhood and adulthood as well as clear suggestions for how we might identify what pattern characterizes our own life. From there, her book provides practical insights into how our attachment pattern is central in our choosing a partner and being a parent. It also explores how we might change our pattern toward one that provides the greatest likelihood for developing an autonomous sense of self and satisfying reciprocal relationships. -
How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle by Mark Wolynn It Didn’t Start With You and its companion, The Official It Didn't Start with You Workbook, provide a groundbreaking approach to transforming traumatic legacies passed down in families over generations, by an acclaimed expert in the field Depression. Anxiety. Chronic Pain. Phobias. Obsessive thoughts. The evidence is compelling: the roots of these difficulties may not reside in our immediate life experience or in chemical imbalances in our brains—but in the lives of our parents, grandparents, and even great-grandparents. The latest scientific research, now making headlines, supports what many have long intuited—that traumatic experience can be passed down through generations. It Didn’t Start with You builds on the work of leading experts in post-traumatic stress, including Mount Sinai School of Medicine neuroscientist Rachel Yehuda and psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk, author of The Body Keeps the Score. Even if the person who suffered the original trauma has died, or the story has been forgotten or silenced, memory and feelings can live on. These emotional legacies are often hidden, encoded in everything from gene expression to everyday language, and they play a far greater role in our emotional and physical health than has ever before been understood. As a pioneer in the field of inherited family trauma, Mark Wolynn has worked with individuals and groups on a therapeutic level for over twenty years. It Didn’t Start with You offers a pragmatic and prescriptive guide to his method, the Core Language Approach. Diagnostic self-inventories provide a way to uncover the fears and anxieties conveyed through everyday words, behaviors, and physical symptoms. Techniques for developing a genogram or extended family tree create a map of experiences going back through the generations. And visualization, active imagination, and direct dialogue create pathways to reconnection, integration, and reclaiming life and health. It Didn’t Start With You is a transformative approach to resolving longstanding difficulties that in many cases, traditional therapy, drugs, or other interventions have not had the capacity to touch. -
by LICSW Resmaa Menakem, MSW In this groundbreaking book, therapist Resmaa Menakem examines the damage caused by racism in America from the perspective of trauma and body-centered psychology. The body is where our instincts reside and where we fight, flee, or freeze, and it endures the trauma inflicted by the ills that plague society. Menakem argues this destruction will continue until Americans learn to heal the generational anguish of white supremacy, which is deeply embedded in all our bodies. Our collective agony doesn't just affect African Americans. White Americans suffer their own secondary trauma as well. So do blue Americans—our police. My Grandmother's Hands is a call to action for all of us to recognize that racism is not only about the head, but about the body, and introduces an alternative view of what we can do to grow beyond our entrenched racialized divide. Paves the way for a new, body-centered understanding of white supremacy—how it is literally in our blood and our nervous system. Offers a step-by-step healing process based on the latest neuroscience and somatic healing methods, in addition to incisive social commentary. -
by Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith Staying busy is easy. Staying well rested-now there's a challenge. Discover how understanding the 7 types of rest can help. How can you keep your energy, happiness, creativity, and relationships fresh and thriving in the midst of never-ending family demands, career pressures, and the stress of everyday life? In Sacred Rest, Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith, a board-certified internal medicine doctor, reveals why rest can no longer remain optional. Dr. Dalton-Smith shares seven types of rest she has found lacking in the lives of those she encounters in her clinical practice and research-physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, sensory, social, creative-and why a deficiency in any one of these types of rest can have unfavorable effects on your health, happiness, relationships, creativity, and productivity. Sacred Rest combines the science of rest, the spirituality of rest, the gifts of rest, and the resulting fruit of rest. It shows rest as something sacred, valuable, and worthy of our respect. By combining scientific research with personal stories, spiritual insight, and practical next steps, Sacred Rest gives the weary permission to embrace rest, set boundaries, and seek sanctuary without any guilt, shame, or fear. -
by Deb Dana Here, for the first time, is a layperson’s explanation of polyvagal theory, an approach to mental health and well-being that has taken the clinical world by storm. A polyvagal approach to life is based on the knowledge that the autonomic nervous system is shaped by early experience and reshaped with ongoing experience. This short book offers an overview for nonspecialist readers and provides a series of exercises and meditations (practices) that allow readers to tune into their nervous systems, providing calming prompts to build and strengthen ventral vagal connections. This book includes a never-before-published comprehensive chapter on polyvagal theory, preceded by exercises that focus on mapping, reflecting, listening, deepening, creating, and connecting. Readers who want to change a pattern and find new rhythm for their nervous systems can use this material to work toward those goals. -
by Nicole Steward Solutions for tackling the deeply-rooted causes of burnout. Radical Self-Care for Helpers, Healers, and Changemakers addresses the constant exposure to heartbreak and injustice that can take a toll on the mental and physical health of those in the helping professions. After more than twenty years as a social worker, author Nicole Steward shares her own challenges with burnout and offers practical solutions to tackle the deeply-rooted causes of overwhelm that helpers face, which include compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, and moral injury. Steward’s solutions go beyond mere stress-reduction techniques; rather, she offers a framework for engaging in radical self-care. Here readers will discover a way of being that prioritizes helpers and healers, so they can better serve others without sacrificing their own health and wellness. This book offers foundational strategies that challenge the current systems that contribute to the high rates of burnout and turnover in the human and social service professions. By taking radical care of themselves, helpers can take a more effective and resilient approach to their work, ultimately leading to liberation for both themselves and those they serve. -
by Richard Schwatrz PhD Discover an empowering new way of understanding your multifaceted mind―and healing the many parts that make you who you are. Is there just one “you”? We’ve been taught to believe we have a single identity, and to feel fear or shame when we can’t control the inner voices that don’t match the ideal of who we think we should be. Yet Dr. Richard Schwartz’s research now challenges this “mono-mind” theory. “All of us are born with many sub-minds―or parts,” says Dr. Schwartz. “These parts are not imaginary or symbolic. They are individuals who exist as an internal family within us―and the key to health and happiness is to honor, understand, and love every part.” Dr. Schwartz’s Internal Family Systems (IFS) model has been transforming psychology for decades. With No Bad Parts, you’ll learn why IFS has been so effective in areas such as trauma recovery, addiction therapy, and depression treatment―and how this new understanding of consciousness has the potential to radically change our lives. Here you’ll explore: • The IFS revolution―how honoring and communicating with our parts changes our approach to mental wellness • Overturning the cultural, scientific, and spiritual assumptions that reinforce an outdated mono-mind model • The ego, the inner critic, the saboteur―making these often-maligned parts into powerful allies • Burdens―why our parts become distorted and stuck in childhood traumas and cultural beliefs • How IFS demonstrates human goodness by revealing that there are no bad parts • The Self―discover your wise, compassionate essence of goodness that is the source of healing and harmony • Exercises for mapping your parts, accessing the Self, working with a challenging protector, identifying each part’s triggers, and more IFS is a paradigm-changing model because it gives us a powerful approach for healing ourselves, our culture, and our planet. As Dr. Schwartz teaches, “Our parts can sometimes be disruptive or harmful, but once they’re unburdened, they return to their essential goodness. When we learn to love all our parts, we can learn to love all people―and that will contribute to healing the world.” -
by Stephen W. Porges PhD This book compiles, for the first time, Stephen W. Porges’s decades of research. A leading expert in developmental psychophysiology and developmental behavioral neuroscience, Porges is the mind behind the groundbreaking Polyvagal Theory, which has startling implications for the treatment of anxiety, depression, trauma, and autism. Adopted by clinicians around the world, the Polyvagal Theory has provided exciting new insights into the way our autonomic nervous system unconsciously mediates social engagement, trust, and intimacy.
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Edited by Evan Senreich, Shulamith Lala Ashenberg Straussner, & Jordan Dann Experiential Therapies for Treating Trauma offers 17 chapters, with 15 of them focusing on a different experiential psychotherapy for treating trauma, written by clinicians with expertise in that modality. No other book contains descriptions of such a wide array of experiential therapies under one cover. Readers will obtain both a comprehensive overview of the many experiential therapies that are currently utilized and specific knowledge regarding how to utilize each of them in psychotherapy practice. The authors of each chapter emphasize that in working with clients impacted by trauma, there is a need for the use of therapeutic modalities that go beyond the cognitive processes central to talk therapy and incorporate more holistic, sensory approaches that emphasize the building of a strong relationship between the client and therapist. Both experienced clinicians and students will find this book to be an invaluable resource to enhance their knowledge of how to use experiential therapies and to motivate them to obtain advanced training in modalities that spark their interest. -
Bridging the gap between research, science, and the therapy room. by Stephen W. Porges PhD When The Polyvagal Theory was published in 2011, it took the therapeutic world by storm, bringing Stephen Porges’s insights about the autonomic nervous system to a clinical audience interested in understanding trauma, anxiety, depression and other mental health issues. The book made accessible to clinicians and other professionals a polyvagal perspective that provided new concepts and insights for understanding human behavior. The perspective placed an emphasis on the important link between psychological experiences and physical manifestations in the body. That book was brilliant but also quite challenging to read for some. Since publication of that book, Stephen Porges has been urged to make these ideas more accessible and The Pocket Guide to the Polyvagal Theory is the result. Constructs and concepts embedded in polyvagal theory are explained conversationally in The Pocket Guide and there is an introductory chapter which discusses the science and the scientific culture in which polyvagal theory was originally developed. Publication of this work enables Stephen Porges to expand the meaning and clinical relevance of this groundbreaking theory. --- -
by Stephen Porges PhD and Karen Onderko; Foreword by Peter A. Levine PhD We all want to live and share our truth, but when we don’t feel safe, it can be impossible to fully express or even know who we really are. The nervous system impacts daily well-being, to our benefit or detriment. Understanding how may be key to truly knowing yourself and better supporting the challenges holding you back. “When the nervous system regains its capacity to feel safe,” say Porges and Onderko, “individuals can express themselves genuinely, engage comfortably with others, and embrace a life of greater openness and ease.” The Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) is a groundbreaking therapy based in Polyvagal Theory, which looks at the role the autonomic nervous system and vagus nerve play in regulating health and behavior. SSP involves listening to music that’s been filtered to prioritize frequencies of human speech, providing auditory input that enables the nervous system to reset to its homeostatic state. Porges and Onderko offer a glimpse into this innovative approach, highlighting not only the origin of SSP and its best practices but also real-life stories of transformation. They showcase clinical evidence demonstrating SSP’s impact on emotional dysregulation, social interaction difficulty, and auditory sensitivity, providing a comprehensive understanding of its therapeutic potential. Some features and conditions addressed include: • Depression • Perfectionism • Addiction • Suicidal ideation • COVID recovery • Navigating gender identity • Living with Parkinson’s disease • Hypermobility • Autism • ADHD • Dyslexia Whether patient, family member, friend, or clinician, you’ll find a deeper understanding of the nervous system and tools for a more resilient experience. Illustrating the incredible range of application and how autonomic regulation can lead to significant improvements―from stress and anxiety to grief and trauma―Safe and Sound demonstrates how SSP can promote a state of safety and calm, facilitating the foundation for long-awaited healing. -
by Mathew Portell, Incrid L. Cockhren, Tyisha J. Noise, Julie Kurtz, Julie Nicholson -
by Richard C. Schwartz & Martha Sweezy IFS reveals how the subpersonalities or "parts" of each individual's psyche relate to each other like members of a family, and how--just as in a family--polarization among parts can lead to emotional suffering. IFS originator Richard Schwartz and master clinician Martha Sweezy explain core concepts and provide practical guidelines for implementing IFS with clients who are struggling with trauma, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, addiction, and other behavioral problems. They also address strategies for treating families and couples. -
by Robbie Adler-Tapia (Author), Robbie - Adler-Tapia PhD (Editor) Expanded to include EMDR therapy with infants to adolescents, this updated and revised manual--the only resource of its kind--accompanies the new second edition of the widely praised foundational text, EMDR and the Art of Psychotherapy With Children. The manual distills simple and practical ways to employ EMDR therapy scripted protocols and forms to effectively utilize the entire EMDR therapy eight-phased treatment with infants, toddlers, young children, preteens, and teens from a developmental perspective. It is organized in accordance with the book and provides step-by-step directions, session protocols, scripts, and forms for each phase of the protocol, along with instructions for integrating techniques and tools from play, art, sand tray, and other helpful therapies. The manual mirrors revisions to the text including changes to the phases of EMDR therapy and target identification and the integration of developmental theory into EMDR therapy for use with infants to adolescents. Additional revisions include coverage of new specialties and updated protocols, the presentation of breakthrough narrative concepts, new resources and scripts, guidance for the use of EMDR therapy with specialty populations, and new case studies of infants, toddlers, preteens, and adolescents. The manual will greatly assist therapists in their goal of providing best practices for children in need of expert psychotherapy. -
by Mathew Portell, Ingrid L. Cockhren, Tyisha J. Noise, Julie Kurtz, & Julie Nicholson In Reducing Stress in Schools, Mathew Portell, Ingrid L. Cockhren, Tyisha J. Noise, Julie Kurtz, and Julie Nicholson provide a toolkit of actionable, evidence-based practices for PreK–12 teachers, administrators, and staff to support students’ and adults’ nervous system regulation. Rooted in the tenets of trauma-responsive education and current neuroscience, these strategies address stress-related behavioral challenges present in schools, including fight, flight, freeze, and fawn behaviors. Unique in its approach, this book raises awareness of the collective trauma caused by the pandemic, highlights the effects of racial and historical trauma, draws attention to educators' stress and burnout, and proposes strategies for stress reduction drawn from a diverse range of practitioner experience. The authors show that, in the post-COVID-19 era, as students and educators contend with unprecedented exposure to mental health stressors, research supports classroom management via relationship-building interventions. They demonstrate how alternatives to exclusionary discipline practices can promote social-emotional learning, counter learning loss, and improve student skills such as sensory literacy, resilience, and frustration tolerance. This work delivers clear guidance throughout chapters that feature real-world case studies, sample conversations, and questions for reflection and discussion. It also includes recommendations for countering resistance to the implementation of trauma-responsive practices for classroom management. Ultimately, it gives educators the tools to build schools that reduce stress and strengthen racial justice, equity, healing, and safety. -
by Joe Brummer & Margaret Thorsborne Maybe you have heard the terms 'trauma-informed' and 'restorative' - but how do you go about becoming a trauma-informed, restorative educator? This practical book outlines the values, ideas and neuroscience behind trauma-informed restorative practice and its proven effectiveness. It clearly explains key theories relating to shame, trauma and your autonomic nervous system, and explains how to apply this knowledge in practice. Examples and stories of restorative practice feature throughout to inspire and emulate, as do practical protocols, tools and systems to develop your skills as a trauma-informed educator. Critically, it also explains the personal and professional qualities you need to nurture to truly engage in trauma-informed, restorative practice, with reflection points to aid learning and self-development. Read this book and take your first steps to creating a trauma-informed, restorative classroom - even if your school isn't doing it! -
by Jessica Sinarski Learn How the Brain Affects Behavior Are you ready to increase learning opportunities, reduce negative behaviors, and improve staff and student morale? Then it's time to become a brain builder! We all are aware of an alarming increase in reported behavioral disruptions in school settings. Often less understood is the critical role that the brain plays in shaping all behavior, including the challenges we face in our classrooms and beyond. Light Up the Learning Brain illuminates the many ways that teaching through a brain-based lens can breathe new life into your work. In these pages, you will discover:- how the brain's two main "operating systems" interact - and often compete
- the amygdala's vital role as an alarm system and gatekeeper
- ways that brain function is closely connected to our senses
- the power of play, curiosity, and safety in fostering brain development
- tips, scripts, and tools to make your job easier and more fulfilling
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By Sharon Roszia and Allison Davis Maxon Based on a hugely successful US model, The Seven Core Issues Workbook is accessible and parent-friendly with brief explanations, activities and exercises. The Seven Core Issues are Loss, Rejection, Shame/Guilt, Grief, Identity, Intimacy and Mastery/Control. The workbook gives parents the ability to explore their own issues as well as their child's through varies experiential exercise and activities. Parents can identify and address their core issues in order to more effectively assist and support the child's core issues. The workbook and its exercises allow for a variety of diverse groups to use the book with ease, making it the essential tool for all individuals to grow and heal themselves and their families. -
by Sarah Lloyd Does your child struggle to know how their body is feeling? Do they find it hard to balance or feel uneasy when their feet leave the ground? Early trauma and neglect can have a profound effect upon a child's development. Sensory integration theory offers a way of understanding how the brain processes and stores movement experience, and how these experiences manifest at a physical and emotional level. This book explains how early movement experiences affect brain development and gives examples of how trauma can prevent basic sensory processing pathways from being correctly established. It shows how you can identify gaps in normal sensory development and offers ideas for how you can use physical activities to help build up the underdeveloped systems. Good bodily awareness forms the foundation of motor development as well as social and emotional skills and learning. This book will help your child to be more in tune with themselves and their bodies and feel more comfortable in their environment. Highly accessible with lots of practical tips and examples, this book is written for adoptive and foster parents, and will also be useful for social workers, fostering and adoption workers and those working in primary and early years educational settings. -
by Robyn Gobbel "All behavior makes sense" '"It most certainly does not!", is probably your first reaction. Parenting and neuroscience expert Robyn Gobbel is here to reveal how all behavior, no matter how baffling, can be explained and remedied. You just need to look past the behavior and understand what's going on inside. Robyn decodes the latest brain science into easy-to-understand principles and metaphors to help you become an expert in your child's behavior. She reveals simple ways to help you regulate and connect with your child, with brain-, body- and sensory-based strategies to overcome day-to-day challenges. She also provides you with the knowledge to understand and regulate your own brain so that you don't flip your lid when your child flips theirs. Let this be your lifeline for parenting or caring for any child with baffling behaviors and hidden challenges, including kids who have experienced adversity, or with additional needs. -
by Allison Davis Maxon, illustrated by Liza Stevens Based on the pioneering Seven Core Issues model, this resource is an accessible and age-appropriate way to support children and teens who have experienced early adversity, to strengthen understanding and healing. The Seven Core Issues are Loss, Rejection, Shame/Guilt, Grief, Identity, Intimacy and Mastery/Control. This resource combines two separate interactive workbooks - one for children developmentally aged 5-11, the other for children developmentally aged 12+. These can be filled in, photocopied or downloaded and provide a structured way for children and teens to explore their feelings and beliefs using exercises and activities. An ideal accompaniment to the Seven Core Issues Workbook for Parents of Traumatized Children and Teens, this resource will be valued by all adults supporting children who have experienced early adversity. -
by Bessel van der Kolk M.D. Trauma is a fact of life. Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of combat; one in five Americans has been molested; one in four grew up with alcoholics; one in three couples have engaged in physical violence. Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, one of the world’s foremost experts on trauma, has spent over three decades working with survivors. In The Body Keeps the Score, he uses recent scientific advances to show how trauma literally reshapes both body and brain, compromising sufferers’ capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust. He explores innovative treatments—from neurofeedback and meditation to sports, drama, and yoga—that offer new paths to recovery by activating the brain’s natural neuroplasticity. Based on Dr. van der Kolk’s own research and that of other leading specialists, The Body Keeps the Score exposes the tremendous power of our relationships both to hurt and to heal—and offers new hope for reclaiming lives. -
by Dr. Barbara Sorrels and Cathy Chalmers, M.A. Once you understand attachment, parenting makes a lot more sense. The basics of child development, and the importance of attachment, will equip you to create meaningful and secure relationships that last a lifetime. You’ll discover:- What is healthy attachment How to nurture connection in various ages and stages
- The crucial differences between punishment and discipline
- How child development research aligns with biblical truth
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by Robin Wall Kimmerer Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, and as a woman, Kimmerer shows how other living beings―asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and sweetgrass―offer us gifts and lessons, even if we've forgotten how to hear their voices. In reflections that range from the creation of Turtle Island to the forces that threaten its flourishing today, she circles toward a central argument: that the awakening of ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings will we be capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learn to give our own gifts in return. -
by Mary Lyons WISDOM LESSONS, by Ojibwe Great-grandmother Mary Lyons, is the culmination of a lifetime steeped in indigenous spiritual traditions, as well as the proverbial school of hard knocks. At once plainspoken and lyrical, Grandmother Mary offers invaluable lessons for anyone interested in living in alignment with their higher self. A spiritual advisor, storyteller and wisdom keeper, she travels and teaches internationally, with a focus on healing children, families and communities from the negative effects of alcohol and drug addiction. After her own recovery, guided by her ancestors, she has dedicated her life to helping others, fostering and adopting many children with family problems, disabilities and fetal alcohol syndrome. -
by Angela Tucker An adoption expert and transracial adoptee herself examines the unique perspectives and challenges these adoptees have as they navigate multiple cultures “Your parents are so amazing for adopting you! You should be grateful that you were adopted.” Angela Tucker is a Black woman, adopted from foster care by white parents. She has heard this microaggression her entire life, usually from well-intentioned strangers who view her adoptive parents as noble saviors. She is grateful for many aspects of her life, but being transracially adopted involves layers of rejection, loss, and complexity that cannot be summed up so easily. In “You Should Be Grateful,” Tucker centers the experiences of adoptees to share deeply personal stories, well-researched history, and engrossing anecdotes from mentorship sessions with adopted youth. These perspectives challenge the fairy-tale narrative of adoption, giving way to a fuller story that explores the impacts of racism, classism, family, love, and belonging. -
by Jaiya John Jaiya John follows up his books Daughter Drink This Water, and, Freedom, with this aromatic delight for your soul. Fragrance After Rain is a sensitive, hopeful, intimate movement through your many seasons of tenderness, and the beautiful meaning and grace that grow from that fertile ground. If you love Rumi, Hafez, Gibran, and other classic mystic poets, here is your honey jar. This book is pregnant with balm and salve so personal and intuitively attuned, you will be certain the words were birthed just for you. Sustenance as you live through your personal moments, and through the collective moods of the world. Fragrance is a free flowing melody of petite stories and mystic whispers, a wildflower meadow you may enjoy wherever you lay yourself within it for a moment and breathe beautifully. These inspirational pieces are entirely liberated from chapters and sections, freely roaming, drifting on spirit breeze as they wish. Each word-bouquet is gathered and growing according to the sunlight, soil, and water of Love's orchestral conducting. Open this book, turn to a page, let your eyes arrive to any brief orchard of words, and allow your heart to taste the fruit and meet its craving. Whatever words you meet are the words you need in the moment. In this Fragrance story, the one who speaks, is spoken to, and is spoken about is you, BeLoved. All of this is you. This is a book of bright clouds in the sky of your life. Bringing you beauty, meaning, the downy reflection of sunlight, life-replenishing rain, and a sweet fragrance thereafter. Walk, dance, sing, and repose yourself through this aromatic pasture, and feel a peace that is both medicine and music for your soul. Be careful, dear Lover. If you sip these words slowly and savor their essence, you may become a mystic. -
Teach Resilience and Practical Strategies to Cope with Trauma by Jessica Sinarski, illustrated by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff All around us, children are carrying backpacks that are heavy with more than just textbooks. Each day, they also bear the weight of difficult life experiences and intense feelings. Zoey Harmon just wants to feel light-hearted and carefree. Unfortunately, she keeps getting weighed down by pesky "books" in her backpack, like Worry and Shame. Much to her surprise, she's not the only one! Zoey learns that the adults in her life deal with difficult feelings too! Luckily, they have some ideas that can help her set aside the books she's not meant to carry. Will it be enough to help her unload the heaviest book of all? "You look a little worried, kiddo," Zoey's mom said, giving her a squeeze. "Sometimes I need a bright thought to help me when I'm feeling upset. Here, try this." She slid a bookmark into Zoey's hand. Zoey looked down and read: Imagine with Hope. "What's this?" asked Zoey. "When we don't know what to expect, worry wants us to imagine with fear, to think about all the worst possibilities. This is a little reminder I use to think of the good things that might happen when I imagine with hope instead." While there are no quick fixes for all of life's complex problems, What's Inside Your Backpack? highlights some of the ways we can nurture resilience in body and mind. Using the metaphor of books and bookmarks, author Jessica Sinarski offers gentle, effective strategies to help children impacted by trauma. By sharing their burdens with people they trust, kids can lighten their load and realize just how strong and courageous they really are! -
A young boy learns to validate and accept his feelings as he comes to understand the different parts of himself. by Richard Schwartz, Ph.D. and Bethany Hegedus; illustrated by Kate Fedos As a boy goes through his day, he encounters all sorts of people and experiences. He reacts differently depending on the situation. Whether it’s The Manager who takes charge and organizes, The Exile who makes himself small and disappears, or The Firefighter who employs a lot of noise and distractions, each of these “parts” is useful in helping him cope. Based on the popular teachings of the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model of therapy developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz, this book is not only a great introduction to our feelings and behaviors but a way for all kids to talk about what they are experiencing. Children will learn to accept all parts of themselves and understand that within us there are no bad parts! -
by Jessica Sinarski, illustrated by Zachary Kline Riley the Brave is a little bear with big feelings. He really wants to have fun at the fair, but sometimes he struggles just making it to school, especially on the STINKY, BUMPY, NOISY bus! It is hard for Riley to focus and have fun when he is feeling so many confusing sensations! He has porcupine moments and grumps at his friends, or turtle moments when he just wants to be alone. He even had a tiger moment, roaring at his teacher. With all these big feelings, how can he ever go to the fair? Riley the Brave's Sensational Senses teaches children about their senses through a playful story with real-life strategies for emotion regulation. It also features an educational afterword for grown-ups that explains our eight senses and includes tips for getting the most out of the book.
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Teach Kids to Figure Out Why They are Mad by Jessica Sinarski, illustrated by Macky Pamintuan What can you do when your feelings get the best of you? The students at Sunnyvale Elementary carry a lot in their backpacks - including some things you can't see quite so well, like big feelings and confusing emotions. Today, one fiery red book keeps spilling out and exploding onto everyone: ANGER! It's time for the kids to use their best detective skills to figure out what's underneath those angry feelings. Ana feels HURT when her friends don't play fair. Ben feels EMBARRASSED when he makes a mistake. Grace feels DIFFERENT when nobody chooses her for their team. When our feelings get the best of us, we need to do our best with our feelings. Become a backpack detective like Ana, Ben, and Grace! "Stop when I'm furious. Pause and be curious. What is underneath the mad? Am I lonely, stressed, or sad?" -
by Jessica Sinarski This isn't your average ABC book! It's not just for learning letters. B Is for Brain teaches kids how to name emotions, handle hard moments, and get ready for all that school has to offer. From Light Up the Learning Brain author, Jessica Sinarski, comes a playful alphabet adventure that helps children build the emotional smarts they need to thrive in the classroom and beyond. Familiar friends from Riley the Brave are back in this joyful read-aloud that nurtures confidence, curiosity, and even that oh-so-difficult skill of self-control. Ideal for ages 3-5 and the adults helping them grow.
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Help Kids Build Self-Confidence and Resilience by Jessica Sinarski, illustrated by Simone Douglas Destiny Davis carries more than just schoolbooks in her backpack. Her constant companion, Anxiety, makes everyday tasks feel impossibly hard. But when a big class project sends Destiny into a full-blown spiral, her dad steps in with a surprising solution - and a reminder that even the toughest challenges can be faced head on. This heartwarming story will help kids:- Understand the brain science behind anxiety
- Experiment with helpful coping strategies
- Build self-confidence and resilience
