"If you can't say it, sing it" is not only Sophie Garner's mantra, it's the title of her new book, a journal going deeper into supporting children in navigating their emotions through creative expression.

Having started her professional career with the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain (1991-1992 Maggie May and Amphibias Spangulatos), a determination to succeed and share her passions emerged, leading Sophie to become the first artist to play the London O2 Arena, setting a standard to beat by artists who followed in her footsteps. And others soon noticed Sophie’s talents, giving her opportunities to travel across Europe and the Middle East with her four studio albums, and allowing her to support artists including Mcfly, Sugababes and Will Young.

A strong leader, inspired and trusted, Sophie fronts and manages several professional bands, writing, coproducing and sharing her expertise with as many students as she can, strengthening the talent, confidence, writing and vocal technique of the artists of our future.

A natural educator and full of energy, Sophie’s passions and goals stem from believing in the true, holistic and deep effects of music, and sharing the gift of music, as a therapy and a life skill, to help others learn to comfortably express themselves, allowing her students to grow in confidence and develop socially.

Sophie is a great communicator and easy to follow, which allows students to excel creatively, and this is what Sophie thrives on. She opens up her musical log during our magical conversation.

About Sophie

Sophie began her career as a professional singer straight after leaving school 30 years ago.  She was the very first artist to play London's iconic O2 Arena! 

She is a vocal coach, choir leader, and expert music specialist working with schools, adults with brain injury and dementia. Sophie has a master's degree in her specialist area of the benefits of singing on wellbeing and mental health. 

During lockdown, she became the published author of 'The Creative Songwriting Journal' and 'If you can't say it sing it!' Sophie is a public speaker and facilitator and is now working with schools and businesses throughout UK, providing her powerful and unique songwriting workshops, teacher training and presentations.

Connect with Sophie

www.sophiegarner.com

Twitter:  @sophiegarner1

Facebook

Connect with Amanda Seyderhelm

Visit my website to download my free eBook 10 Simple Play Therapy Techniques You Can Use To Help Your Child With Grief, Loss and Change

If you are supporting a bereaved child, or know someone who is, you can purchase my books - Isaac and the Red Jumper (for 4-10 yr olds) and Helping Children Cope with Loss and Change

@TheKidDecoder on Twitter
@amandaseyderhelm on Instagram and LinkedIn

Help shape the content of my podcast - Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts

"The Heping Children Smile Again podcast has been massively beneficial in helping me unlock how to open discussions with a child going through bereavement – thank you Amanda!."  <-- If that sounds like you, please do rate, review, follow and share my podcast. Your feedback helps shape the content and allows me to support more people battling grief. 

After his wife died in 2016, Justin Bowen wanted to create a resource for Schools based on the caring support his young children received from their local School in Worcestershire. Be The Rainbow is that resource.

His young daughter painted the rainbow on the book's front cover during lockdown, which Justin says gave both his children the chance to play at home - water fights in the garden, climbing trees - and not be defined by their grief. The rainbow represents the hope after the storm of grief. What a stunning metaphor!

We often hear the phrase, 'time is a great healer', but Justin believes that healing comes through engaging with our grief, not just by allowing time to pass by. As adults, this means being emotionally agile enough to hold our children when they are engaged in their grief puddles.

For busy Schools, Justin has translated this into a practical and accessible 3 step formula:

1/ Take a systematic approach to bereavement in School settings.
2/ Make a simple plan.
3/ Deliver the plan.

Remember that grief isn't linear, so keep the plan under review. A child's needs will change as they develop and grow. What a 5 year old child needs will be different when they are 8 or 9. What remains constant for children are the important anniversaries. Remembering those is key to helping children feel their grief is being respected and their loved ones remembered.

About Justin

Since becoming a widowed parent in 2019, Justin has written two books. The first, 'Fighting for this Life', tells the story of his family's journey with cancer as told through the Facebook posts his late wife wrote during her illness. His most recent book, 'Be The Rainbow', is a practical guide for professionals supporting bereaved children in primary schools.

Prior to becoming a writer, Justin had a 20-year career working in public services, including leading a Youth Offending Team and managing a residential home for children who had experienced abuse. He also ran his own business for over 5 years.

Justin has two children, aged 8 and 9 years old.

Connect with Justin

https://betherainbow.co.uk/

Twitter: @justinbowen71
Facebook: @betherainbowbook

Connect with Amanda Seyderhelm

Visit my website to download my free eBook 10 Simple Play Therapy Techniques You Can Use To Help Your Child With Grief, Loss and Change

If you are supporting a bereaved child, or know someone who is, you can purchase my books - Isaac and the Red Jumper (for 4-10 yr olds) and Helping Children Cope with Loss and Change

@TheKidDecoder on Twitter
@amandaseyderhelm on Instagram and LinkedIn

Help shape the content of my podcast - Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts

"The Heping Children Smile Again podcast has been massively beneficial in helping me unlock how to open discussions with a child going through bereavement – thank you Amanda!." <-- If that sounds like you, please do rate, review, follow and share my podcast. Your feedback helps shape the content and allows me to support more people battling grief.

Can there be anything called ‘good’ grief especially when it follows from the death of a child?

Surely grief is that most abject of conditions in which you are thrown into an endless darkness, where despair overcomes hope, and longing for the loved one lost is a pain beyond endurance? How can this be good?

Jane Harris and Jimmy Edmonds have created THE GOOD GRIEF PROJECT in order to share their experience of grief and to help others to find an active and creative response to the expression of their grief.

Their son Josh died in a road accident in Vietnam in 2011 while he was on a six month tour of the Far East. He was 22.

Some see grief as a passing phase – a moment in which the trauma of loss recedes into time and that the emptiness of one’s heart gradually heals. New events and new memories will, they say, overwrite those of the one we loved and the history that s/he inhabited.

Is that normal?

Is that what we call a good grief?

Or is grief, especially the grief for a child, something more akin to a state of being, changing over time, but a new condition, a new narrative if you like, that we will live with for the rest of our lives.

THE GOOD GRIEF PROJECT is their way of addressing this.

My conversation with Jane Harris explores the project which is based on ideas that flow from the concept of ‘continuing bonds’, of not wanting to cut off from the deceased, but of building a new kind of relationship with your child. 

About Jane and Jimmy

Jane is a psychotherapist, bereavement specialist and supervisor with special interest in family relations.

She is responsible for film production, public speaking and delivery of mindfulness and arts based workshops and courses.

Jimmy is a documentary film editor with over 100 credits on various TV productions including BAFTA winning ‘Chosen’ for Channel 4 and his own personal film ‘Breaking the Silence’ for BBC 1.

He’s responsible for film and website production and delivery of photography based courses.

Connect with The Good Grief Project

https://thegoodgriefproject.co.uk/

Facebook: @thegoodgriefproject
Twitter: @goodgriefproj
Instagram: @thegoodgriefproject


Connect with Amanda Seyderhelm

Visit my website to download my free eBook 10 Simple Play Therapy Techniques You Can Use To Help Your Child With Grief, Loss and Change

If you are supporting a bereaved child, or know someone who is, you can purchase my books - Isaac and the Red Jumper (for 4-10 yr olds) and Helping Children Cope with Loss and Change

@TheKidDecoder on Twitter
@amandaseyderhelm on Instagram and LinkedIn

Help shape the content of my podcast - Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts

"The Heping Children Smile Again podcast has been massively beneficial in helping me unlock how to open discussions with a child going through bereavement – thank you Amanda!."  <-- If that sounds like you, please do rate, review, follow and share my podcast. Your feedback helps shape the content and allows me to support more people battling grief. 

Anyone who has experienced the loss of a loved one will know that you never stop grieving for those you have loved, and what an important journey it is to find a way to live with that loss.

Child Bereavement UK has been helping families facing that journey since 1994 and that is why I'm delighted to be in conversation with Ann Chalmers, the Chief Executive of the charity.

If you have been concerned about how to talk to bereaved children, and what questions to ask, this conversation will be a helpful guide. We talk about the importance of not making any assumptions and keeping the conversation as open and honest as possible.

Instead of 'getting over grief', Ann talks about the ways in which we learn to live with our loss, to grow around it, which allows us to accommodate our grief in a healthy and connected way.

Asking for help when you are bereaved can feel daunting, which is why Child Bereavement UK have so many accessible resources available to choose from via their website, www.childbereavement.org to make starting your journey a little easier.

About Ann Chalmers

Ann has been involved in multi-disciplinary training of professionals in the area of loss and bereavement for over thirty years. She holds a BACP Accredited Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Counselling and a University Accredited Diploma in Bereavement Counselling, and has provided counselling for individuals, couples and staff within the NHS and for children and young people within the voluntary sector. She has been Chief Executive of Child Bereavement UK since 2003 and has been involved in all aspects of the charity’s training, consultancy and service development work. She has contributed to a number of professional publications and books, and has presented nationally and internationally for the charity.

Learn more about Child Bereavement UK

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/childbereavementuk

Twitter @cbukhelp

Instagram @childbereavementuk

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/childbereavementchar


Connect with Amanda Seyderhelm

Visit my website to download my free eBook 10 Simple Play Therapy Techniques You Can Use To Help Your Child With Grief, Loss and Change

If you are supporting a bereaved child, or know someone who is, you can purchase my books - Isaac and the Red Jumper (for 4-10 yr olds) and Helping Children Cope with Loss and Change

@TheKidDecoder on Twitter
@amandaseyderhelm on Instagram and LinkedIn

Waiting can be stressful. While the waiting lists for child mental health assessments get longer, our anxiety ramps up. Parents and children wait in limbo. Feeling helpless. Do professionals hold all the answers? What can we do ‘in the meantime’ period while we wait for a professional assessment?

According to Safeguarding expert Kayla Shepherd, staying in this anxious state can disempower us, and keep us focused on our losses. The key to coping with our anxiety while we wait, is to understand both the risk and protective factors our children are facing as they struggle to process big changes like bereavement, moving house, moving school, losing friends. These keys will help us to feel less frightened. Taking action at home, and at school, enables us to stay in a solution-focused state which is key to counteracting feelings of helplessness.

Kayla is Managing Director of Safety Mode Ltd and Chair Of The Board Of Trustees at Andy's Angels. She leads safeguarding training courses about the risk and protective factors, teaching parents how to open difficult conversations with teenagers, how to assess whether your child is becoming addicted to online gaming, and maintain a sense of connection and belonging.

She also set up a Grief Play Cafe for children in her community following the death of her husband which brings grieving families together to share their stories.

A rich conversation full of practical strategies you can implement immediately.

Don’t let the waiting period derail you.

About Kayla and Safety Mode Ltd

Kayla is an experienced instructor having developed her career in childcare and training. After managing several local nurseries, Kayla developed a passion for training and mentoring. 

In 2016 Safety Mode Limited was born, offering dynamic training and mentoring for businesses, parents and individuals, Specialising in First Aid, Safeguarding and First Aid for Mental Health for children, young people and adults.  

Please find our free awareness of children's mental health Facebook lives on our Facebook page here: (1) Safety Mode Limited | Facebook with guest speakers talking about Sleep, risk factors of children's mental health, how to build self-esteem and confidence in children and how art and music can support our children and young people's mental health and well-being.

LinkedIn
www.safetymode.co.uk

Connect with Amanda Seyderhelm

Visit my website to download my free eBook 10 Simple Play Therapy Techniques You Can Use To Help Your Child With Grief, Loss and Change

If you are supporting a bereaved child, or know someone who is, you can purchase my books - Isaac and the Red Jumper (for 4-10 yr olds) and Helping Children Cope with Loss and Change

@TheKidDecoder on Twitter
@amandaseyderhelm on Instagram and LinkedIn

The world is in crisis, from climate change, the Pandemic and now the Russian war in Ukraine. We are feeling the impact of this collective trauma in our bodies, and seeing anxiety levels rise higher than ever. Our sense of belonging is being questioned at all personal and public levels, and our feeling of being disconnected from ourselves and the Earth continues as technology and algorithms seem to be taking over our life choices.

It's time to put our wellies on and step outside into the mud as an antidote to the high tech indoor environment, and as a nurturing guide to express and calm our turbulent feelings. Of course, playing outside not only creates a close attunement with Nature, but it also allows children to transition and progress through what Sue Jennings calls the three play stages:

1/ Sensory - roll around in the grass, make mud pies.
2/ Constructive - 'I can take these sticks and make a magic wand'.
3/ Narrative - My wand gives me power to create a new world!

Kate Macairt has supported the forest school and outdoor education movement through her work as a teacher of Art and Play and Creative Arts Psychotherapist. She shares her 18 years experience with us and argues that it's time for us to reconnect back to ourselves through playing and creating in Nature because it's not enough for children to learn about war in the classroom, we have to help them feel, learn and express their feelings about war and other tumultuous change.

Kate has generously created an ebook - How nature can help us manage difficult times - for listeners of my podcast to download.

About Kate

Kate has been working with children and young adults for over 15 years as a Therapist and previously 18 years as a Teacher. The discovery of Play Therapy persuaded her to re-train and she moved from Creative Teacher to Creative Play Therapist. Kate’s passion and love of Mother Nature and spending time outside has infiltrated into her role as Teacher of Art and Play Therapist.

Kate supports the Forest School and Outdoor Education movement and she has worked for Circle of Life Rediscovery for several years. She helps facilitate at North Devon Forest School, and together with Ali Chown is a founder of the Collaboration of Outdoor Play Therapists. (COOPT). She founded Creative Spark in 2009 which provides Creative Play Therapy, SandPlay Therapy, Training and Clinical Supervision.

Instagram @katemacairt
For more information about Landplay outdoor play therapy training which is happening - April 2nd and 3rd 2022 visit www.creativesparktraining.co.uk or email creativespark.kate@outlook.com

Connect with Amanda Seyderhelm

Visit my website to download my free eBook 10 Simple Play Therapy Techniques You Can Use To Help Your Child With Grief, Loss and Change

If you are supporting a bereaved child, or know someone who is, you can purchase my books - Isaac and the Red Jumper (for 4-10 yr olds) and Helping Children Cope with Loss and Change

@TheKidDecoder on Twitter
@amandaseyderhelm on Instagram and LinkedIn

A child loses a parent every twenty-two minutes in the UK. Childhood bereavement brings with it a whole series of challenges for the children involved - challenges they will deal with all their lives.

What to say to a bereaved child stumps many teachers. They are afraid of saying the wrong thing, and tend to say nothing.

Phoebe Gilbert was 9 when her Mum died. She is now 23, a University graduate starting her first job at www.nudgeeducation.co.uk which offers bespoke intervention for anyone, anywhere, chronically disengaged from education. Her Father, Ian Gilbert, founder of Independent Thinking, co-authored a book with his three children as a personal account of the way educational institutions tried and succeeded, tried and failed and sometimes didn't try at all to help William, Olivia and Phoebe come to terms with the death of their mother. The book lays bare the 'lessons' they have learnt, the hard way, from their Mum's death.

Phoebe and Ian join me for a conversation about their personal loss.

As Phoebe says, 'Remember that for young men and women, such as myself, our loss is part of us. It is part of who we were, who we are and who we are becoming.'

We talk about there being no one specific framework for loss, and how professionals must be prepared to adapt to whoever is in front of them.

A conversation full of hope.

Independent Thinking on Loss

Written by Independent Thinking founder Ian Gilbert together with his three children,  Independent Thinking on Loss is a personal account of the way educational institutions tried and succeeded, tried and failed and sometimes didn’t try at all to help William, Olivia and Phoebe come to terms with the death of their mother.

Ian, William, Olivia and Phoebe encourage educators to view death and bereavement as something that can be acknowledged and talked about in school, and offer clear guidelines that will make a difference as to how a school can support a bereaved child in their midst.

Purchase Independent Thinking on Loss  https://www.independentthinkingpress.com/books/teachingskills/independent-thinking-on-loss/

USE CODE ITL25 to get 25% off

Independent Thinking:
Twitter @ITLWorldwide
Instagram @independentthinkingworldwide
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/thisiangilbert/
Web www.independentthinking.com

Nudge Education:
Instagram @nudgeeducation
Web https://www.nudgeeducation.co.uk/

Connect with Amanda Seyderhelm

Visit my website to download my free eBook 10 Simple Play Therapy Techniques You Can Use To Help Your Child With Grief, Loss and Change

If you are supporting a bereaved child, or know someone who is, you can purchase my books - Isaac and the Red Jumper (for 4-10 yr olds) and Helping Children Cope with Loss and Change

@TheKidDecoder on Twitter
@amandaseyderhelm on Instagram and Linked In

The Covid Pandemic has been a collective trauma. A crash course in learning how to cope with uncertainty and change. If we were anxious pre-Covid, this suddenly escalated for children and families to a frightening level and threatened all aspects of our wellbeing. Were Mummy or Daddy going to die and leave me alone?

We were also worried about our health. We didn't have the vaccines. We didn't understand how this was going to work. We didn't understand the impact emotionally, the fear of this unprecedented unknown.

Dr Tina Rae used her skills and 30 years experience as a clinical psychologist to support parents and carers who themselves didn't feel regulated, felt heightened levels of anxiety, and were having to support their children, to be that nurturing, supportive, safe base for children.

We reflect on the Pandemic through a post-traumatic growth lens. Looking at adversity and learning - what can we learn and take forward? Some of the strategies and reflective practices parents used to survive, are useful to keep within our wellbeing toolkit because they lead us to be compassionate towards ourselves, and others. That's all good for our collective mental health and wellbeing.

We talk about:

1/ The importance of focusing on the present, what we can control.
2/ Finding social connection through social media.
3/ Changing the way we respond to things out of our control.
4/ Doing good for other people.
5/ Creating daily magic moments.
6/ Thoughts are not facts, find the evidence to reframe.
7/ Practising gratitude.
8/ What we've learnt about resilience.
9/ Journaling as a reflective, expressive practice.
10/ Being a therapeutic base within yourself.

This conversation is full of inspiration.

About Dr Tina Rae

Dr Tina Rae has 40 years’ experience working with children, adults and families in clinical and educational contexts within local authorities and specialist services. She is currently working as a Consultant Educational and Child Psychologist in a range of SEMH and mainstream contexts and for Fostering agencies as a Consultant Psychologist supporting foster carers, social workers and Looked after children. She was an Academic and Professional tutor for the Doctorate in Educational and Child psychology (University of East London) from 2010-16. She is a registered member of the Health and Care Professions Council, a member of ENSEC (European Network for Social and Emotional Competence) and a former trustee of Nurture UK.

Tina is a member of the editorial board for the journal Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties and for the International Journal of Nurture in Education. She is also a member of the Advisory board for Fresh Start in Education.

Twitter @DrTinarae
YouTube @DrTinaRae
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-tina-rae-82666330/

Connect with Amanda Seyderhelm

Visit my website to download my free eBook 10 Simple Play Therapy Techniques You Can Use To Help Your Child With Grief, Loss and Change

If you are supporting a bereaved child, or know someone who is, you can purchase my books - Isaac and the Red Jumper (for 4-10 yr olds) and Helping Children Cope with Loss and Change

@TheKidDecoder on Twitter
@amandaseyderhelm on Instagram and Linked In