09/15/2026
"Why would a psychotherapist write children's books?"
I get asked this a lot. My clients taught me why.
I work with adults who are really good at what they do. They lead teams, raise families, and show up for everyone. Then something small happens, like a tense email or a certain tone of voice, and suddenly they're snapping at someone they love, going numb, or finding a reason to leave the room.
When we slow down and look at where that comes from, we usually land somewhere in childhood. A kid who felt something huge in their chest or stomach and didn't have a single word for it. Nobody explained it, so they found their own way to get through it. Those ways tend to stick around for decades.
The research here gives me a lot of hope. Naming a feeling helps calm the part of the brain that sounds the alarm. Kids who learn social emotional skills in school also tend to do better with their emotions, their behavior, and even their grades.
So I started writing for the kids. Hello Flutters! gives children a word for that fluttery feeling, and it gives the adults in their lives an easy way to talk about it together.
When a child understands fear early, they get a head start on living fully.
I'm curious. What's one feeling you wish someone had helped you name when you were little?
