A Guide to Teaching Kids Relaxation, Regulation, and Coping Techniques
Nonfiction; Education; Psychology; Child Development
Release Day: December 7, 2020
Publisher: Whole Child Counseling
Help children develop healthy coping skills with this brilliant 12-week plan.
Are you an educator or mental health professional searching for guidance? Do you want to discover a powerful all-in-one program for helping kids manage their anxiety, regulate their emotions, and cope with their feelings? Then Skills for Big Feelings is the book for you!
Inside this heartfelt, comprehensive guide, you’ll join School Adjustment Counselor and Licensed Mental Health Counselor Casey O'Brien Martin as she reveals a powerful, practical framework to help children cope with anxiety, overcome stress, and learn to thrive. Built on a selection of proven cognitive behavioral techniques, breathing exercises, and mindfulness, as well as engaging activities including stretching, gratitude, visualization and positive self-talk, Skills for Big Feelings seeks to empower kids to embrace their emotional growth over the course of a comprehensive 12-week plan.
With over a dozen activities including accepting mistakes, identifying support systems, acknowledging triggers and much more, this complete guide provides educators and professionals alike with a detailed, objective-based framework for promoting optimal social-emotional health.
Can you tell us a little about the process of getting
this book published? How did you come up with the idea and how did you start?
I was working as a School Adjustment Counselor in an elementary
school and I heard a story of trauma that a student had been exposed to. The
student had never been identified as
someone who needed mental health support. She was never brought to my office,
probably because she never acted out.
I realized then that I needed to take on more of a tier-one,
school-wide preventive approach to mental health care so the children who
externalized their behavior and acted out were not the only ones who were
receiving my support and learning these important relaxation coping skills. I
wanted to ensure I was supporting all children, even the ones we did not
know were struggling. I
believe all children should be taught social-emotional skills, including the
ability to understand their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. So, the book was
written to be skills-based and very practical. I wanted to create something
that could implemented on a much wider scale and used
by other people – not just counselors.
I decided to self-publish this book when I started getting
feedback from families about the progress that their children were making at
home when they were doing this program. I wanted to be able to help more kids,
beyond just the students in my school.
What surprised you most about getting your book
published?
I was shocked at how long the whole process takes! There are
just so many steps! I was so naive and thought once my manuscript was complete,
it would be published right away.
Tell us a little about what you do when you aren’t
writing
I’m a Registered Expressive Arts Therapist so I love anything
creative! When I’m not writing I like to create and appreciate all of the
arts. I have 2 kids, 6 chickens, and a
dog so they keep me very, very busy! I
also teach at a University part-time and work full-time as a school counselor. I am a life-long learner, so in my free time,
I love to study about different topics. For
the past several years I have been passionate about learning about
complementary and alternative medicines like aromatherapy and herbs.
As a published author, what would you say was the most
pivotal point of your writing life?
I was really nervous to put my work out there and into the
world. It still feels really scary to me!
So when I started contacting professional authors in the counseling psychology
field whom I admire, and asked them if they were willing to read my book and
get their thoughts... I was terrified! I
felt so vulnerable, but I am so glad I took that risk because I was able to
grow so much from that experience. Their feedback was extremely valuable to me.
Where do you get your best ideas and why do you think
that is?
I get my best ideas from my own children and the kids I work
with. They inspire me every single
day! For example, there is a relaxation
coping skill in the book called Unicorn Breath. I drew this because so many
kids love unicorns! They’ll come in wearing a Unicorn backpack or shirt, and
paying attention to what the kids is helpful to me. I have found that when you
are able to create resources and coping tools that the kids are interested in
and resonate with, they will be much more willing to use them!
What is the toughest criticism given to you as an author?
I initially started querying agents and I think the initial
rejection was really hard. Most of them
wouldn’t even say no - they just wouldn’t even respond back at all! So there
were a lot of unknowns there. When I decided
to go straight to publishers myself without an agent, they expressed a lot more
interest in my work. In the end, I
decided to self-publish but it was a growing experience to go through those
steps and learn how the publishing industry works and how to handle that
initial rejection. You can’t just hear
no and give up on your dreams. I have
big goals to help many children throughout the world with this program, so it
would be irresponsible for me to give up so easily!
What has been your best accomplishment as a writer?
Finishing this book to completion! I start a lot of projects
and don’t always finish them!
How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?
I have another book that is about half way finished. It’s a
curriculum with expressive arts therapy interventions (like art therapy, drama
therapy, etc.) that can be used with kids in the schools. It has a lot of
really fun, creative activities I have done with my own students so I think
people will enjoy it, whenever I can get it done.
Casey draws on her unique skillsets and interest to create mind-body programs designed to promote holistic wellbeing and emotional regulation in children of all ages, helping them to achieve their highest potential. She believes that teaching kids how to cope with anxiety and understand their feelings is an essential part of their personal growth, and she’s honored to be a part of this invaluable process.
Casey graduated from Lesley University, where she currently serves as an Adjunct Faculty Member in the Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences. For more information, visit www.wholechildcounseling.com.
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