Cracking Your Child’s Sleep Code
PARENTS / CARERS - Someone in your house not finding it easy to get to the Land of Nod without a big battle or tears, a pa-lava or endless requests that are really avoidant distractions? Are they suffering the effects of not enough good sleep the next day? And...
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Metaphors in Grief
I wrote this in September 2021. It was sent to the readers of the CHEW emails... but in marking the 3 year anniversary, it feels like time to share it with the wider world... in case it helps. x Year of the Dog I know it has been a long while sine I last wrote....
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It’s Not You… the Struggle with Guided Visualisations
I recently found myself in a room of about 150-200 people. We were at a conference. All sat round tables in a nice hotel. The input had been great. The food, honestly, was even better. The connections and networking and human to human support was the best. And...
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Composting Life
Today has been COMPOST DAY. Finally, I got to a job that has been waiting for a while. Today the various planets aligned:- the weather was dry; my energy level and inclination were primed and yesterday’s computer-heavy day required an outside day today; AND the bees...
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Trauma is not Grief. Grief is not trauma.
When your area of specialism is trauma and bodies, you know it, spot it happening for others even when they might not realise it themselves. Trauma happens in all sorts of ways, and this is a common one that has impacted so many dog owners. If we don't recognise our...
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Trauma is STILL missing in the puzzle of children’s behaviour
I started training school staff and advisory teams around understanding children who had experienced trauma over ten years ago. It was something that grew naturally out of my years as a teacher and then as an experienced play therapist and clinical supervisor. For...
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A Reflection on Trauma & Leadership
STILL… Did you see the waves come through? Did you feel the tremors? Did you notice everyone hold their breath and freeze, go faster, do more or panic out loud with previously unheard screams; loss and pain that may yet reverberate through generations. Did you scream?...
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COVID-19 : Understanding our Past in our Present
Fresh Insights on Corona Virus : What we can learn about ourselves and othersTelling someone who is scared not to be is about as supportive and effective as telling someone who is ranting to calm down. It doesn’t work. It doesn’t help. The thing about a big event like...
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Review of GROUNDED in an International Journal
This review appeared in the summer (2019) edition of Play for Life, an International journal for Play Therapists. GROUNDED ~ Discovering the Missing Piece in the Puzzle of Children's Behaviour Claire Wilson CHEW Initiatives, 2018 Paperback 131 pp £14.50+ ISBN:...
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Who is important to children?
I recently heard about a group of children who were told that they were important but that all the adults who work with them were replaceable. REALLY ???!!! It is incredible to me that someone would say that to children.... that someone would say that at all... and as...
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The Starfish Story
I know this story is well known. I'm sure you have heard it before. This is my version of it. It 's good to come back to and remember it's message now and again. We may not be in a position to change the world for all children, but we can certainly make a...
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5 Reasons why having a Therapist in school is harder than it seems
While we all continue to raise our voices and advocate for better provision for the mental health of children and young people, we need to talk about what is already happening. It may be that we can make what is there even better, even more effective. Many...
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