Clearwater Therapy Books
Therapy Books for Children
Shelley Anderson
Therapist and Author.
I'm a therapist living and working in rural Alberta for the past 30 years , working with children and families from a trauma and attachment framework. They have taught me so much about resilience and our innate desire to heal. I'm now using that knowledge to write the books I would have liked to have had over the years as tools to educate and support. My hope is that children will be able to relate to the characters and see themselves in the books, providing deeper understanding and decreasing stigma and shame. In addition, the books may be helpful to the adults in their lives to help them better understand the impact of experiences such as sexual abuse, addiction, and attachment injury.
Children's Therapy Books
Scram
Samantha is a young girl who loves dance and has a corn snake named Boots. Life changes for Sam when her uncle comes to live with them and sexually abuses her, leaving her very confused and full of conflicted feelings. The abuse stops when Sam discloses the abuse to her school teacher, and even though life seems to get back to normal, Sam loses interest in activities she previously loved and her happy demeanour changes. When she starts to see a therapist Sam begins to understand her response to the sexual abuse, how it has affected her, and how it affects other kids. Join Sam as she seeks to understand this difficult experience and work through it with the help of her therapist and her family. While this is a difficult subject, it is important that children who have experienced childhood sexual abuse can see themselves and their responses in the characters of a book. This helps to decrease the shame and stigmatization, better allowing them to move beyond the experience and start the healing process.
Ketchup Chips
Wyatt is a young boy struggling to understand his mother's addictions and their impact on his family. When his mother goes away to attend treatment for substance abuse, Wyatt and his siblings go to live in foster care. Wyatt has difficulties with some of the big feelings that come up for him and is referred to see a therapist who helps him to understand addictions. Join Wyatt as he learns about substances, addiction, and how to manage some of the feelings we experiences including anger, confusion, and grief. Wyatt learns that he is not responsible for his mother's addictions, that his mother loves him, and ways to take care of himself through all of the struggles addictions can bring. Substance abuse and addiction are hard concepts for adults, let alone children. Join Wyatt in his journey to better understand substance abuse and his own reactions and emotions.
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Just One Cookie
Sometimes we can feel empty, wanting to try to fill up on all the wrong things, in an effort to feel better. That might be food, toys, time, or attention but it never feels like enough. This seems especially true for kids that have had difficult histories. The result can often be that kids feel frustrated and continue seeking, and the adults around them feel overwhelmed and ashamed that they cannot meet the child's needs adequately. This is the story of a little girl who tries to fill herself up with food, but can’t get enough. She imagines that she consumes everything in the house, the whole neighbourhood, the planet, and starts on the solar system, she realizes that things are getting out of control. That's when her wise grandmother suggests that maybe that's not what she needs. Perhaps the void she is trying to fill is best filled by a warm, nurturing, safe relationship. When the little girl allows herself to be nurtured and taken care of, she starts to feel a little less empty.
Cheeto and Klaus
Two young cats move in with a new family after suffering neglect in their previous home. The new family already has two cats and they are not sure that they are prepared to take the new cats in. The family goes through many difficulties as they try to figure out if they can be a family with four cats. This is a story about families going through big changes and all of the accompanying emotions. As you will see, things do not go perfectly, but the family decides that they have enough room in their hearts and their home for the new family members.
Olive the Scaredy Cat
Olive is a tiny black and white kitten that has to leave her family, and goes to live in a home with a young girl named Katie. Olive is very scared and not prepared to trust Katie and the others in the house. Although it is difficult at first, eventually, Katie and the furry cast of characters in the house help Olive to begin to settle in to the new family and trust again. This is a story about loss and attachment. Join Olive as she learns that it is okay to trust and to feel safe again.
Testimonials
Shelley's books have allowed me the opportunity to have open and honest conversations with my clients. They are the perfect balance of fun and educational, and I look forward to continuing to use them in years to come.
- Children's Mental Health Professional
Shelley offers crucial insight into how children are impacted by addiction. With her book “Ketchup Chips” she is able to combine the painful aspects of understanding addiction with the inspiring.
After working in the child protection field for 15 years and scouring for resources I have finally found a tool I would recommend all child protection practitioners have in their resource library.
- Child Protection Worker
Shelley's book "Scram" facilitated a disclosure with one of my young clients and provided a breakthrough in our work together.
- Children's Therapist
"Ketchup Chips" and "Scram" have been an incredibly useful tool in my work with young people.
- Child Protection Worker
Shelley’s book “SCRAM” creates a comforting reminder to children that they are not alone if they have experienced sexual abuse. Utilizing her years of practice Shelley creates a safe space to read and learn about incredibly traumatic experiences and allows the reader to feel safe to share their experiences. This book is a tool that all child protection practitioners would love to have to support children in the most difficult of circumstances.
- Katy Shaw
Child Protection Worker
