Category: Children

  • Playtime

    Playtime

    In my early days as a speech and language therapist, I had a deep desire to work creatively with children with special needs but became disillusioned with systems and methods of working that failed to address the child’s underlying emotions.  In the past, I had made hasty judgements which may have interfered with the child’s…

  • Healing Through Play

    Healing Through Play

    Robert, a subdued little boy of eight, was referred to me for creative play because of his struggles at home and at school where he was unable to order his thoughts.  When he tried to express himself, his speech was muddled and incoherent.   His actions were clumsy and he often tripped and banged into things. …

  • Fairytale Healing

    Fairytale Healing

    Alice was referred to me for play therapy when she was five years old . She was referred by a team of health service professionals who were offering counselling support to Alice’s father and his new girlfriend.  Alice was grieving for her mother who had passed away with cancer two years earlier.  The little girl…

  • Vocal Toning:  Rainbow Chakra Tones

    Vocal Toning: Rainbow Chakra Tones

    Toning is an ancient and powerful method of using the voice. The toning process energises the brain and stimulates and regenerates the central nervous system to activate the body’s own self-healing mechanism.  Ancient cultures in both the northern and southern hemisphere understood the law of vibration and recognised sound as energy in motion, acknowledging that…

  • Restoring Peace to the Home

    My experience as a foster mother of young children and also as a speech and language therapist in community and hospital clinics, has shown me that behaviour problems inhibit other aspects of development.  I eventually left my profession in search of another, simpler way of working with adults and children with complex needs.  Having studied…

  • Missing Grandma

    Missing Grandma

    Ten year old Henry, was referred to me by his paediatrician who was concerned about his deteriorating health.  She  wondered if Henry was still grieving for his grandmother, who had unexpectedly died twelve months earlier. Henry had had a close relationship with his Grandma and both he and his mother would have been traumatised by…

  • Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

    Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

    Having worked for several years in a school for children who were severely physically and intellectually disabled, I came to the conclusion that children with communication impairment prefer to be involved with music, movement and play rather than those activities that have an expectation of interaction. However when there is a difficulty with communication, the…

  • Lego was the Key

    Lego was the Key

    Lenny at ten years old, was the oldest of four children. The family’s Health Visitor had noted his delayed development and limited communication when he was two years old. He was subsequently seen by a variety of professionals and submitted to repeated episodes of intervention in an endeavour to effect some improvement, with limited success.…

  • Finbar the Dragon Slayer

    My work in Ireland introduced me to some amazingly creative children. One of them was a little boy called Finbar. I only saw him twice but he taught me that children are able to quickly gain what they need in a space free from judgement and expectation with a variety of versatile props to allow…

  • Don’t Stop Reading Fairy Tales

    I want to talk to parents, grandparents and teachers to let them know how important it is to read fairy tales to their children, grandchildren and pupils. We are holding the light for a lost generation who are becoming increasingly disconnected from their intuition and from nature and their environment. A child is like sleeping…