Are you losing sleep over challenges with your kids? Are you looking for an out of the box solution that doesn’t leave you feeling inadequate and guilty?
Welcome. I’m Deborah Woods. I’m a National Certified Counselor, mom, and kid whisperer.
I empower parents to team up with their kids on a journey of self-discovery and joyful connection. Along the way parents and kids build cherished relationships and leave discipline problems behind.
You might be surprised to hear that I wasn’t always so good with kids. Raising my son we had a whole host of challenges that made being a mom less than the joyful experience we all think it should be. I cried myself to sleep worrying over him for too many nights which became years before I found a solution that worked.
My experiences as a mom, raising a special needs child, and as a counselor working with kids for more than 30 years has lead me to some basic beliefs about kids and play.
KIDS MUST PLAY
First, I believe, that children learn, grow and problem solve as they PLAY. They must play to grow. Kids deprived of play are cut off from their capacity to solve problems, to make sense of new experiences, and to bounce back from stress. Children deprived of play suffer a dangerous disadvantage throughout their lives. As children have begun to play less and less in the past 20 years, mental illness and suicides among children have risen significantly. Unfortunately, just sending kids out to play occasionally isn’t the answer. Neither is playing with them all day, every day. Putting them on a sports team or sending them to dance class doesn’t meet this need. You’ll be relieved to hear that there is a way to empower kids to grow, using the same skills trained professionals use, in just 30 minutes a week, that will meet your child’s need for a problem-solving play relationship.
PLAY IN A SUPPORTIVE RELATIONSHIP
Secondly, I believe that the vast benefits of ordinary play are expanded and enhanced using a set of advanced skills used by highly trained professionals. While an overwhelming amount of research has proven its effectiveness over the last 50 years, there are still less than 5% of child therapists using this process to help kids unlock their play power. Even helping professionals sometimes find it difficult to believe that kids are capable of playing their way to wisdom and maturity. With the right support, a child can bounce back from overwhelming circumstances to flourish and thrive. Outcome studies consistently prove that the approach I use in the playroom is highly effective in helping kids in a wide variety of settings, with a wide variety of concerns and challenges.
UNLOCK A CHILD’S TRUE DIRECTION
The exciting news is that moms and dads can unleash a child’s potential for authentic growth and healing by embracing the trade secrets of top play professionals. Powerful Playtimes empower kids for a lifetime in just 30 minutes a week. Research has demonstrated over and over that moms and dads can inspire better and faster results than experienced professionals who use the same playtime process in the office playroom. Instead of adding an extra layer of work and responsibility to the job of parenting, powerful playtimes build close relationships, and give parents new skills, making the rest of the week run more smoothly.
Discover a fresh world full of new possibilities.
In this blog, I’ll share with you my experiences, thoughts, and inspiration for raising emotionally healthy kids with great people skills using play and the skills I’ve discovered in my play therapy training.