My Journey Continues

Hello again,

As I continued my journey of creating this heart, it was important that I do research on what was already available. I found for the most part, the toys currently on the market are forensic dolls used in diagnosing abuse. Other tools available are finger puppets, and sand therapy. I talked with a friend who is a child psychologist about my vision. He has been very supportive of my mending heart and the therapeutic toys. I also spoke with several physician friends and social workers about my endeavor. They were very encouraging.

Each time I read a tragic story about a child who has been abused, I want to run and hug my daughter, son-in- law and grandchildren. How do we protect children from abuse, assault, bullying, and any type of abuse?

It is important for the child who has been traumatized to have hope and so I created these toys with that in mind. As I designed the mending heart and the plush toy, I knew there needed to be a letter introducing the toy to the child.

Thus, I created the letter to introduce the toy and offer hope to the child.  I also wanted the mending heart and therapeutic toy to be an opportunity for the child to interact with play therapy as well as provide an opportunity to provide other avenues for communication, specifically an alert system. The child and the therapist, forensic nurse, teacher, parent can establish a system that indicates a signal of distress, a SOS.

Every opportunity to promote healing of children offers a child hope and makes coping with life that much easier. So my journey continues.