If you know much about Play Therapy then when you hear the words, you mind probably conjures up sand trays, action figures, dolls, building blocks and all sorts of wonderful toys for children to engage with as a form of self expression. You would be 100% right! Yet there is more to it. 

So let's start with a brief history of Play Therapy which emerged way back in 1942. It was made up from elements of Child Psychotherapy with the specific theoretical foundations found in Humanistic Psychology tradition and Attachment theory.  Sounding a bit complicated? Well yes it is.

Usually a play therapist is a professional who has trained for two to four years to obtain the qualification which could lead to a Masters Degree. There are also very stringent requirements for accreditation and this has grown into a worldwide movement of therapists.

The actual provision of play therapy is concerned with supporting younger children who have been faced with trauma to "communicate"...

After the pandemic, I saw first hand how the mental wellbeing needs of children needed to be prioritised and this is what led me to make a few much needed changes.  Those changes just happened to be in me. Without seeing the curve ball coming, the pandemic dysregulated my own nervous system just like it did for many millions of people around the world...possibly even you?

As a high performing person, I suddenly found that I was unable to function optimally. I literally fell to pieces....in more ways than one. This was devastating to me, since I was walking the walk and talking the talk - doing what I could to maintain my own physical and mental health yet nothing seemed to work?

The good news is that in the fragments of me falling apart, it led me to the most wonderful exploration of complex trauma and pressing pause on expansion and growth within my organisation so that I could spend time taking care of my own wellbeing. 

"Nothing changes if nothing changes"

This pause...

Recently in one of our Thinking Thursday group mentorship sessions, the topic of "fidelity" was raised by a Kids Life Coach Academy student. It was in response to an experienced Kids Life Studio® certified coach presenting a brilliant client case study of a 12-year old boy lacking in concentration in the classroom. This kids life coach spoke extensively as to how she used our Kids Life Studio® foundation programme consisting of 5 tools and 7 key ingredients to support this boy who after participation in his coaching programme is now flourishing in the classroom and excelling academically despite a potential ADHD diagnosis. 

So what is fidelity and how is this applicable to coaching children? 

Fidelity is the extent to which an intervention follows a programme model. When implementing our evidence informed play based coaching programme, our certified Kids Life Studio® coaches are encouraged to adapt this for their local contexts. Being flexible in how the...

I have been in this game of “marketing” myself as a kids life coach for many years. In 2003, when I started out there wasn't any bench mark....drum roll please....and they're also wasn't....

Any social media!!!

Yet I ran a successful and very full coaching practice for 6 years prior to actually even joining social media!!  And it was easy!! In fact I sometimes wish social media wasn’t such a “distraction” to newbies to kids life coaching!!

When I started using social media in 2009 I didn’t see a difference in my foot traffic….but what I did see is this…

Easier brand building
Better positioning
Greater exposure
More influence

So whilst I encourage you to build media presence into your marketing campaigns I want to remind you that it should never be your top priority! Also it shouldn’t be your ONLY priority.

Social media will show case you but it will not guarantee you clients!! End of story!!

Your top priorities for building...

TRIGGER ALERT

Recently, I saw a political campaign in England that spoke about a certain leader allowing child sexual abusers to walk free. I was disgusted and appalled at the audacity of using such below the belt tactics to gain leverage in a political race...This prompted me to write this blog which is probably going to be more of a vent and a huge big punt for good old fashioned values...here goes: 

"I have lived in and contributed to the UK for 8 years. I became a British citizen after LOTS of money invested into the National Health Service, doing an English test and passing a life in the UK test. I have towed the line. Contributed to taxes and paid my dues.  

I see myself as a contributing member of society. I am proud and grateful to live in a country that offers me opportunities that my country of birth cannot match. Those that know me well rarely hear me complaining about South Africa (where my family lives) or England (where I now live) because I choose to see the...

I started coaching children in 2003. A time were as a pioneer in this new field, I had nobody to follow and nobody to teach me. As a lifelong learner and with at that stage a teaching degree under my belt, I put the puzzle pieces together as best I could. It was only when I did my Honours degree in Psychology of Education in 2005 that I realised just how many gaps there were in education and supporting children. So I started devouring books, courses and trainings to learn as much as I could about the best way to support children for long term results. With so much knowledge under my belt, I felt the need to consolidate my life's work and I did a Masters Degree in Clinical Child Psychology in 2020. Yet again....I saw gaps in the knowledge and glaring loopholes to young psychologists being trained to support children. 

The good news...is that I realised that intuitively, I had co-designed a programme with the children I had coached and that my play based coaching model was indeed...

When I did my Masters Degree in Clinical Child Psychology

It was gruelling.
It was exhilarating.
It was exhausting.
It was uplifting.

Being accepted into pretty much unrelated degree to my Bachelor of Education Honours degree based only on my experience was an adventure of note!

I did tons of assignments from ADHD to Autism to Bipolar and more….from Trauma to Social Support….child abuse to suicide. I learnt the intricacies of brain development and neurodevelopmental disorders.I read research papers and attended lectures that left me full of new insights.

As a Psychiatry researcher at Oxford University, I have found ample evidence that labels are for things and not for kids!  I have learnt through the evidence, that a lot of children are misdiagnosed and incorrectly supported. I learnt that “testing” and “medicating” (as I have always believed) is not always the answer as many times complex trauma caused by adverse childhood experiences...

This past week, I have had the privilege of spending time with certified Kids Life Studio coaches in my hometown of Lymington! They flew in from the USA and Belgium to join me for our Press Pause and Play Retreat 2022! Hosted in the beautiful New Forest in Lymington, England, we did everything from riding bicycles and taking selfies with ponies to doing water obstacle courses and visiting stone henge.

It was truly amazing to see the collaboration and connection that happened in only one week! These lovely team zealers managed to not only connect to each other but they connected to their own inner child as they took the time to walk the walk and talk the talk. Since play based coaching requires us to play, it is important to take time out to connect with nature and with our inner selves and we did all of that and more!

It is hard to stay positive and on track when faced with the daily pressures of life. I love how these participants made an effort to invest into their own mental,...

Every week on a Thursday my students and certified coaches from around the world gather in a zoom room with me leading them in a peer to peer supervision session. This is one of the things we love to do at The Kids Life Studio Global Network

We value being lifelong learners and discussing our client progress, challenges or opportunities with each other.

Our topic changes each week and recently, our topic was technology addiction. I was super excited about this one as we are seeing such an upswing in this problem in young children. The Kids Life Studio has coaches in over 42 countries and there isn’t one country that is immune to this!!

We all need to be part of the solution as secret parents by staying informed and providing children with a road map for safe tech use. Technology can be good….when managed and when parents role model good habits!!  t starts with us walking the walk and talking the talk as Secret Parents so that we can rebrand childhood for...