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. I cried myself to sleep worrying over him for too many nights. Those nights turned into years before I found a solution that worked.
Fortunately, both my experiences as a mom, and as a counselor, led me to some basic beliefs about play.
KIDS MUST PLAY
First, I believe, that children learn, grow and problem solve as they PLAY.
Let me explain. Kids must play to grow. Deprived of play, kids are cut off from their capacity to solve problems. Without play, kids have trouble making sense of new experiences, and bouncing back from stress. This is a dangerous disadvantage that impacts their lives into adulthood.
Historically, children are playing less now than 30 years ago. In the past 30 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 kids on a sports team or sending them to dance class doesn’t meet their needs for problem-solving play.
With that in mind, you’ll be relieved to hear some good news. There is a way to empower kids to grow, using the same skills trained professionals use. In just 30 minutes a week, you can help meet your child’s need for a problem-solving play relationship.
PLAY IN A SUPPORTIVE RELATIONSHIP
Secondly, there is a set of skills used in play therapy which multiplies the benefits of play. An overwhelming amount of research has proven the effectiveness of these skills over the last 50 years. Yet shockingly, there are still less than 5% of child therapists using this process to help kids unlock their problem-solving power.
Even helping professionals sometimes find it difficult to believe that kids are capable of playing their way to wisdom and maturity.
I’ve seen that 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
I’m excited to tell you that moms and dads can unleash a child’s potential for authentic growth and healing by embracing these trade secrets of top play professionals. Powerful Playtimes empower kids for a lifetime in just 30 minutes a week.
Research has shown over and over that moms and dads can inspire better and faster results than experienced professionals who use the same process.
Instead of adding an extra layer of work and responsibility to the job of parenting, powerful playtimes 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. I invite you to come on in and keep reading to learn more.
Visit the Meet Deborah page to learn more about Deborah Woods, National Certified Counselor.
To discover more about play therapy visit the Help for Kids page by clicking the button below.
Visit Amazon.com and check out Deborah’s book Courageous Gratitude: Celebrate Your Journey through Motherhood.