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Skills for Big Feelings is a powerful guide to teach coping skills to children.
This activities guide book and social-emotional learning curriculum delivers an essential range of relaxation, self regulation, and emotional coping techniques for kids.
The program can be delivered in a variety of settings (individually, small group, or whole classroom) by teachers, counselors, and other mental health professionals.
Are You Trying to Reduce Children's Stress and Improve Their Emotional Health?
...Does Any of This Sound Familiar?
... You know you want to offer more social-emotional learning in your work with kids, but you’re simply too overwhelmed and you have no idea where to begin.
... You don’t have the time or energy to plan and design your own comprehensive social-emotional learning curriculum.
... You’d like to increase communication with families and teach them how they can help support the social-emotional wellness of their kids at home, but you’re too busy to take on this seemingly daunting task.
How would you feel if...
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The kids you worked with used simple, fun, and enjoyable strategies to cope with their emotions more effectively?
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You could easily communicate to families how they can support social-emotional learning at home?
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You didn’t have to scramble and spend so much time prepping, planning, and documenting your work so you could spend more time doing the parts of your job that you love?
Inside "Skills for Big Feelings" You'll Discover...
An all-in-one plan to help you do all of this and more. Specially crafted with something for you, the kids, AND their families, now you can combine every aspect of your social-emotional learning arsenal into one easy-to-manage program.
Skills for Big Feelings is Different From Other Books Because You'll Get:
A complete 12-week guide for successfully teaching relaxation, regulation, and coping techniques to children.
A comprehensive 28-page reproducible coloring workbook for children that includes over 46 child-friendly stretches, breathing techniques, and relaxation skills.
Twelve handouts for families to help them extend and support social-emotional learning at home.
By the Time You're Done Reading You'll Have an Actionable, Easy to Follow Plan to Help Children:
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Identify and Accept Their Feelings
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Acknowledge Triggers
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Learn and Implement Over 38 Coping Skills
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Change Unhelpful Thoughts into Helpful Thoughts
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Measure Challenges
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Accept Mistakes
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Identify Supports
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Apply the Feeling-Breath-Thought-Skill Method
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Utilize Skills such as Visualization, Mindfulness, Gratitude, Positive Self-Talk
.. And so much more
Who Am I?
Have we met yet? I’m Casey, your Skills for Big Feelings author and illustrator. I’m also a Mom, a School Adjustment Counselor, a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, a Registered Expressive Arts Therapist, an adjunct faculty member, and a Registered Nurse.
I want to be totally transparent with you here. About eight years ago I found myself on the brink of burn-out. I never felt like I could catch up. I was constantly running around my school “putting out fires.” This reactive counseling style was not sustainable and it was fueled by a mistake I made early on in my career. When a child had a problem, I would swoop in and try to be the amazing counselor who was able to calm down and de-escalate the child. The issue was that I became their coping skill. This was problematic because it was not empowering to the child at all.
Then I made a conscious change. I shifted my focus from a reactive style to a more preventative approach. This way I could help empower all children by teaching them these important social-emotional skills. In 2013 I began the early stages of developing Skills for Big Feelings as a way to offer preventative, tier-one mental health support for my students. And it was with that pivot in approach when I began to start loving my career again. I’ve refined this program over the years and it has since been used by myself, other counselors, and teachers in small groups, whole classrooms, and individual settings. I know this program helps kids and I am so thrilled to finally share it with you!
What's Inside this SEL Curriculum:
See what people are saying
"Ms. Martin's Skills for Big Feelings is a book for our times. As a busy child psychiatrist fighting depression, anxiety, suicide, and delinquency I am usually asked to find a pill to make things better. But as I say often; pills are not skills. Practical, easy to learn skills like those in Big Feelings are desperately needed so medications are not left to carry the whole burden. Skills for Big Feelings is a big-hearted book full of fun mindfulness tools to help children learn to understand their feelings, manage and cope in a challenging world."
JEFF TURLEY, M.D., CONSULTING SCHOOL PSYCHIATRIST, REGIONAL PSYCHIATRIST FOR THE MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF YOUTH SERVICES
A 12-week facilitators guide for teaching relaxation, regulation, and coping techniques to children
These sessions have been used successfully by teachers and counselors alike, forming a method of teaching kids how to cope with their big feelings. This plan provides you with a complete blueprint which is perfect for use with individuals, small groups, and entire classrooms. Plus, with outlines and samples scripts, you’ll save hours of extra work and stress.
Sixteen trauma-informed guided relaxation scripts
These Mindful Moments are the perfect way to start and end each session! They’re also written using trauma-informed invitational language.
Twelve handouts for families to extend and support social-emotional learning at home
These handouts will help you engage families so they can reinforce the concepts at home and take an active role in their child’s emotional development. Topics include naming and accepting feelings, identifying triggers, changing thoughts, measuring challenges, flexibility, visualization, media, attentional bias, positive self-talk, mistakes, perfectionism, mindfulness, control, gratitude, sleep, movement, nutrition, caregiver mindset, and self-care.
Surveys for children and families
These surveys will help you collect data and measure the impact of Skills for Big Feelings from both child and parent perspectives.
A data collection tool
This tool will help you progress monitor and evaluate your children’s progress. You'll be able to assess the program to see what type of changes you could make to improve your outcomes.
A 28-page reproducible coloring workbook for children
Including over 45 images, as well as child-friendly breathing techniques, stretches, and relaxation skills, kids will be engaged with fun exercises including Unicorn Breath, Snowman Stress Melter Breath, and much more.
Parent Letters
Communication with parents is a vital part of the process. When families, counselors, and teachers work collaboratively together children see an incredible amount of success. Plus, with these sample letters for beginning and ending the 12 sessions, you can save time while you’re at it.
Treatment plan and IEP objective templates with examples
You'll receive 22 objectives which are S.M.A.R.T (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-limited) and directly related to the content covered in the sessions.
Visuals
These visuals will help you meet the needs of a variety of different learners. You’ll receive a Visual Schedule, Self-Scan Poster, Agreements Poster, Feelings Brainstorm Poster, The Triangle Poster, and a Measuring Challenges Poster.
Implementation tips and best practices for conducting social-emotional activities
With a wealth of helpful time-saving tips, plus useful suggestions for structuring the sessions, outlines, opening and closing practices, workbook tips, and ideas for working with children in various settings, implementation will be a breeze!
Bonus Bundle and Growing Bundle Offer
To make this incredible program even easier to implement, both in-person and in a virtual setting – I'm offering a choice of these add-on bundles at a special price for a limited time.
12 Digital Interactive Workbooks
You'll get 150 total pages on Google Slides™, including 71 interactive pages with MP3s to listen to, drag and drop, and typing activities. 36 pages have relaxation coping skills to practice, ideal for use in-between sessions to reinforce the skills or to use with distance, remote, or hybrid learning. These workbooks are best for children to use independently when they can read, type, and use a mouse. Otherwise, they may be shared by the facilitator through a screenshare.
16 Guided Relaxation MP3s
Calming trauma-informed Mindful Moments recorded by professional voice-over artist Tina Wolstencroft.
Editable Documents
Easily customizable resources suitable for a wide variety of settings, including two family letters, surveys for children and families, and a data collection tool.
45 Presentation Slides
These full-color slides of the skills and visuals are perfect for screen sharing on virtual platforms or to use in-person on smartboards.
28-Page Coloring Workbook
A fun workbook in a printable format, ideal for helping kids relax, destress, and enjoy long after they finish the program.
Monday - Friday Schedule
A 7-page document with practical guidelines for breaking down and implementing the content into a daily Monday-Friday schedule, so you can save time and always stay organized.
12 PDF Handouts for Families
33 pages of handouts which can be easily printed or emailed to families to help extend and support social-emotional learning at home. Topics covered include naming and accepting feelings, identifying triggers, changing thoughts, measuring challenges, flexibility, visualization, media, attentional bias, positive self-talk, mistakes, perfectionism, mindfulness, control, gratitude, sleep, movement, nutrition, mindset, and self-care.
Printable Poster Pack
45 pages of full-color printable posters, corresponding with the skills and visuals. These are great to hang in your classroom, use in your calming corner, or hold up.
*Bonuses are in PDF, MP3, Microsoft Word™ and Google Slides™ format
Limited Time Growing Bundle Offer
For a limited time, I am also offering EVERYTHING in the Bonus Bundle PLUS: 9 digital and printable games, the Coping Skills Craftivity eBook with 40 Coping Skills Craft Projects, 2 Bingo Games, Spinner Coping Wheels, Fortune Tellers, Dice, Mazes, and Coping Skills Cards!
And if you purchase today you lock in the price and:
future resources will be added at no additional cost to you!
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Coping Skills Craftivities eBook: 221 pages of 40 coping skills arts and crafts projects!
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Frog's Pond Game: digital and printable board game covers the material in Sessions 1-3 of Skills for Big Feelings
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Back to the Nest Game: digital and printable board game covers the material in Sessions 4-6 of Skills for Big Feelings
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Finding Flowers Game: digital and printable board game covers the material in Sessions 7-9 of Skills for Big Feelings
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Puddle Jumpers Game: digital and printable board game covers the material in Sessions 10-12 of Skills for Big Feelings
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Feelings Identification Film Digital and Print Game: aligned to session 1
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Jolly Jellybean Helpful Thought Hunt Digital and Print Game: aligned to session 3
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Butterfly Thought Changer: Changing Unhelpful Thoughts Digital and Print Game aligned to session 4
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Argh You Ready to Measure Challenges? Pirate Digital and Print Game: aligned to session 5
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Bella Bird's Equal Measurements Problem Solving Digital and Print Game: aligned to session 6
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2 Coping Skills Bingo Games in both color and black and white versions - includes 70 unique Bingo Cards, Letters, Calling Cards, and Markers: games are aligned to sessions 1-7 and sessions 7-12
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Dice: 6 coping skills picture dice in color and black and white versions, and 3 structured coping skills choice dice in color and black and white versions, as well as a craft for kids to create their own dice with their top 6 favorite stress-relieving skills: Each dice set is aligned to 2 sessions, so the set covers all 12 sessions
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5 Fortune Tellers Origami Crafts: aligned to sessions 1-12
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6 Coping Skills Mazes in color and black and white options: aligned to sessions 1-12
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Spinner Coping Wheels: 6 Coping Wheels with 29 different cover options and a craft for kids to create their own dice with their top 6 favorite stress-relieving skills: aligned to sessions 1-12
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Coping Skills Cards in full-color and black and white versions perfect to color: aligned to sessions 1-12
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And more resources will be added in the future at no additional cost to you if you purchase today! Please note, the price increases as new resources are added.
See what people are saying
"Casey O'Brien Martin’s book is a creative, comprehensive and concrete guide to helping children regulate their emotions, with special emphasis on anxiety (the most common emotional condition in the world according to reliable sources). This structured, 12-session process for teaching emotional self-regulation skills includes clear instructions combined with child-friendly illustrations. Martin’s skillful and contemporary book should be on the desks of every counselor, educator, and professional who works with children, as well as all parents who want to raise resilient children."
PAUL FOXMAN, Ph.D, AUTHOR OF THE WORRIED CHILD, DANCING WITH FEAR, AND THE CLINICIAN'S GUIDE TO ANXIETY DISORDERS IN KIDS AND TEENS
Choose Your Edition
*Paperback price does not include shipping and handling. Sent via media mail in US only. International options available at retailers below:
Paperback Edition Also Available at Many Retailers Including:
Is Skills for Big Feelings Right For You?
This is for You if:
You work with kids aged 6-12 in some capacity (as an educator, mental health professional etc.)
You work with some kids who need help developing emotional regulation, relaxation, and coping skills
You want to help kids learn how to accept and cope with their feelings more effectively
You want to save time on planning and prepping sessions
You want a program that is structured and all laid out for you, or one that can also be used flexibly
This is not for You if:
You only work with very young children, older teens, and adults
You don’t believe in social-emotional learning
You don’t believe in the power of preventative mental health and wellness programs for children
You don’t subscribe to the basic values behind cognitive behavioral therapy
You want a magic wand and don't believe in the power of building relationships first
Here’s why you need to get started with Skills for Big Feelings today:
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You have the option to add on the BONUS bundle OR the GROWING bundle for a special limited-time only price.
Second
With the current state of the world, social-emotional learning is more important than ever before for our children.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use this program if I’m not a mental health professional? (I’m a teacher, coach, mentor or paraprofessional etc.)
What ages is this good for?
I'm a parent. Can I use this for my own kids?
How long do the sessions take to implement?
What format are the bonus bundle and growing bundle offers in?
Does a child need a diagnosis or need to be on an IEP or 504 Plan to benefit from this?
Can this be done remotely or through telehealth?
What type of settings can this be used in?
Can I use this with kids younger than 6 years old?
This wasn't developed for very young children. For children under 6 years old, I recommend starting by teaching them to name their feelings and taking 3 deep breaths. Once they have learned and are practicing that, you can consider teaching them a few of the basic skills one at a time until they have mastered them (like Gorilla Hug and Smell the Flower.) The F-B-T-S framework and some of the weekly workbook activities will be too complex for young chidren.
What if I have another question not listed here?
Kindly reach out to me at casey (at) wholechildcounseling.com and I'll be happy to answer your question!
Can I purchase this as a Donor's Choose Project?
Please check out this website about doing a Special Request Project through Donor's Choose: https://help.donorschoose.org/hc/en-us/articles/202002143-Who-can-submit-a-Special-Request-project-
Can my school use a purchase order (PO) to buy this?
Schools can submit purchase orders and payment is accepted from schools by credit card, check, and paypal. Please reach out to casey (at) wholechildcounseling.com for more information and include your name, email address, and your organization’s Tax Exempt ID and Exemption Certificate, if applicable.
Get Started Now!
Help children learn these vital life-skills!
If you want to help children develop their emotional skills, save time, involve families, and spend more time doing the parts of your job that you love, then Skills for Big Feelings is the answer. This complete, comprehensive, all-in-one program provides you with all the essential skills and tools you need to improve the lives of children by empowering them to learn coping skills.