Meet Our Creative Team
Lynn McLaughlin
MED, BED, BA
Amber Raymond
BA, BSW, MSW, RSW
Allysa Batin
Illustration
PURPOSE OF THE SERIES
The Power of Thought children’s book series will help parents/guardians to teach children how to cope with worry and anxiety in a practical, enjoyable way. Children will learn how to cope with life’s struggles, understand, manage and express their own emotions. It is also an excellent resource for educators and those who provide early intervention to children experiencing mental health challenges.
We are at the core of an anxiety epidemic, with roughly 7.1% of the world’s children diagnosed with anxiety. Since 2007 we have seen almost a 2% increase (Lit Review). This number does not account for the growing number of not formally diagnosed children.
As co-authors, we are driven by our own personal and professional experiences and the research supported in the referenced Literature Review: The Impact of Emotional Intelligence on Childhood Anxiety.
SERIES DESCRIPTION
When children learn to manage their emotions at a young age, they learn to problem solve and find positive solutions to everyday situations. Teaching emotional vocabulary gives children the tools they need to build confidence in themselves and minimize their anxiety levels as they grow into adulthood.
Nyx, Carnuli, Epido, Lazu, and Zirco are all children who live on the planet Tezra. Their forms are quite different from humans as they are not identifiable by gender, and they hover rather than walk.
The most unique is that the children cannot hide their emotions because they haven’t learned to control them yet. Each book in the series teaches a different strategy they can use, and adults can model.
As beings, they glow in the colour of their emotions. Trine and Opal are adult figures in the books, we never see their identifying features but they teach and model evidence-based strategies
(they are always portrayed from the side or back).
The colours that represent the emotions that we will see glowing around the characters are:
This Children’s Book Series Will Be Available In Both French And English Languages. It Teaches Emotional Vocabulary In An Entertaining Way. Included In Each Book Of The Series Is A Guide Outlining A Specific Evidence-Based Strategy That Can Be Used To Cope With Everyday Situations. Children Will Have Fun Learning To Use The Strategy While Adults Can Model It!
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
“The Power of Thought Series uses relatable and engaging stories to bring to life important and impactful coping skills. These books have the potential to be a powerful tool in supporting children with the development of emotional intelligence and psychological resilience. They are a unique and child-friendly way of demonstrating and teaching evidence-based strategies.
A quick and attention-grabbing read, the first book in the series: The Power of Thought, illustrates the link between our thoughts, feelings, and behaviour. The book guides the reader in challenging unhelpful thoughts that feed feelings like worry and demonstrates how to transform these into helpful, confident thoughts and actions. Building on cognitive-behavioural principles, the book introduces age-appropriate vocabulary and thought challenging techniques.
These books will be a helpful resource for anyone who works with children- parents, teachers, and clinicians."
Celeste Campeau BSW, RSW
"I Have Choices" from the Power of Thought Children's Book Series, provides parents, teachers, child and youth workers and social workers with a visually pleasing story centered on emotional intelligence for the young people in their care. This book is a thoughtful representation of children learning about and managing their emotions in a variety of typical daily interactions encountered by children.
Particularly intriguing is the use of gender neutral names and characters, who can be related to by any young reader. The creative integration of crystals and their application in daily life is gently introduced using variations of the crystal names in the gender neutral naming of the characters.
As a social worker who has worked with grade school aged children in a clinical school setting for many years, this resource would have been appreciated. I highly recommend the use of this story in a children's therapeutic counselling setting.
DR. JASMINE DEAN, PHD, C. PSYCH.
Co-Authors
Lynn McLaughlin served on three different school boards as a Superintendent of Education, Principal, Vice-Principal, Teacher, and Educational Consultant. Now retired, in addition to her business, Lynn continues to be active in education, teaching future Educational Assistants at her local College.
Lynn hosts the inspirational podcast “Taking the Helm” and publishes a new episode every Wednesday. Her professional speaking experiences have been local, provincial, and international as she leads us in tackling our barriers so that we can move forward to new and exciting possibilities.
As an award-winning author, Lynn McLaughlin is a co-instructor at The Essential Academy, where Dare to Write empowers people to move forward on their path to publishing. An active Rotarian, Lynn is dedicated to community causes.She is a member of 100 Women Who Care Windsor/Essex and works tirelessly to support the goals of the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada. Lynn has recently joined the National Advocacy Committee as a Community member. She strived to meet each new personal goal and completed her first Detroit International 1/2 Marathon in November 2019.
Amber Raymond is a Master's level Social Worker specializing in self-awareness and self-development. Amber discovered her love for research, writing, and sharing knowledge with others during her psychology education and now longs to work one-on-one with individuals to help them achieve optimal holistic health.
Amber is an advocate for non-conventional, evidence-based coping strategies and identifies as a loving and committed mother and friend. She is passionate about child mental health, lifelong self-care practices, self-exploration, self-love, and wellbeing. Amber is always looking for new ways to learn and grow. When not practicing social work, Amber likes to research effective methods for her son and loved ones to overcome life's mental and emotional challenges.
Amber Raymond was born in the small town of Mcgregor, Ontario and grew up in a family that emphasized the importance of helping those in need, learning to recognize those who struggle and do what it takes to help them. She left her hometown to take on the big imperfect world and pursue an education that would prepare her for a life of helping others overcome adversity and mental health struggles.
Illustrator
Allysa Batin is a young freelance illustrator. She enjoys creating fun and colourful characters and advocating for love and acceptance in her art. Her favourite pastimes include hosting Dungeons & Dragons and taking pictures of her dog.
The Impact of Emotional Intelligence on
Childhood Anxiety | Literature Review
We are at the core of an anxiety epidemic (Russell, 2014), with roughly 4.4 million (7.1%) of the world’s children diagnosed with anxiety, an increase from 5.5% in 2007 and 6.4% in 2012 (CDC, 2020). This phenomenon is on the rise. Additionally, one-third (37.9%) of children aged 3-17 diagnosed with anxiety have also been diagnosed with behaviour problems or depression (32.3%). Anxiety disorders, such as social phobia, separation anxiety, and generalized anxiety, are among the most common mental health affliction present in children (CDC, 2020; Elseviere, 2020; Polanczyk et al., 2015), often emerging before they reach eleven (CDC, 2020; Kesler et al., 2005; Reardon et al.,2018).
Additionally, many children go undiagnosed (Russell, 2014), and only 59.3% of children aged 3-17 formally diagnosed with anxiety received treatment (CDC, 2020; Reardon et al., 2018). Childhood anxiety is distressful for both children and their families (Elsevier, 2020) and without early intervention and effective resources, anxiety will follow children into adulthood (Copeland et al., 2014), often resulting in adverse outcomes coupled with the related financial burden toll on society (Reardon et al., 2018). Therefore, it is essential, now more than ever, to develop resources for parents, teachers, and the like to assist in supporting anxious children (Klein, 2009). The evidence says it is important to speak openly about the realities of anxiety and educate children on how to tolerate anxiety to learn they can manage their anticipatory fears (Goldstein, n.d.).
Children turn to their parents for support and guidance in managing things that scare them (Elsevier, 2020), and the modern contemporary parent will seek resources to help them (Russell, 2014). Literature can provide techniques for facing anxiety is a practical, enjoyable way for guardians looking to teach their anxious children how to cope with life’s struggles. The act of reading out loud with children can be soothing for anxious children (Barr, 2020), and when a guardian is involved in the healing process, it leads to more robust skill development (Brendel, 2011). The content of literature can provide children with the vocabulary and self-awareness needed to understand and express themselves in an otherwise tricky circumstance (Barr, 2020). Ultimately, developing a series of children’s books that offer evidence-based approaches to coping with everyday situations known to cause anxiety in children would be beneficial for children, guardians, and society.
References
Barr, A. (2020, October 29). How Reading Aloud Can Help Children with Anxiety. Demme Learning. https://demmelearning.com/reading-aloud-children-anxiety.
Brendel, K. E. (2011). A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effectiveness of child-parent interventions for children and adolescents with anxiety disorders (Order No. 3454900). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (871109324). Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ledproxy2.uwindsor.ca/dissertations-theses/systematic-review-meta-analysis-effectiveness/docview/871109324/se-2?accountid=14789
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2020, June 15). Data and Statistics on Children's Mental Health. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/childrensmentalhealth/data.html.
Copeland, W. E., Angold, A., Shanahan, L., & Costello, E. J. (2014). Longitudinal patterns of anxiety from childhood to adulthood: The great smoky mountains study. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 53(1), 21–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2013.09.017
Elsevier. (2020, April 2). New treatment for childhood anxiety works by changing parent behavior. ScienceDaily. Retrieved February 12, 2021 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200402110133.htm
Goldstein, C. (n.d.). What to Do (and Not Do) When Children Are Anxious. Child Mind Institute.
Kessler RC, Chiu WT, Demler O, Walters EE. Prevalence, Severity, and Comorbidity of 12-Month DSM-IV Disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2005;62(6):617–627. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.62.6.617
Klein, R. (2009). Anxiety disorders. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 50(1‐2), 153–162. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2008.02061.x
Polanczyk, G., Salum, G., Sugaya, L., Caye, A., & Rohde, L. (2015). Annual research review: A meta-analysis of the worldwide prevalence of mental disorders in children and adolescents. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 56(3), 345–365. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12381
Reardon, T., Spence, S., Hesse, J., Shakir, A., & Creswell, C. (2018). Identifying children with anxiety disorders using brief versions of the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale for children, parents, and teachers. Psychological Assessment, 30(10), 1342–1355. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000570
Russell, A. (2014, december 16). Today’s children struggle with major anxiety [ Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEyWsa-mblc