Sam Feels Better

Sam saw something awful and scary! Ms. Carol, a special therapist, will
show Sam how to feel better. Children can help Sam feel better too by using
drawings, play, and storytelling activities. They will be able to identify and
manage their own feelings and difficulties in their lives following a traumatic
event, crisis, or grief.

Sam Feels Better Now! is a book to help children who have gone through a traumatic experience. The book is an illustrated guide book on trauma therapy, to be used on a 4-10 years old kid, guided by their caregivers. Every page of text is accompanied by a nice big illustration. It further call for the active participation of the kid, by asking them to draw or colour according to their interpretation of their own feelings.

When Samantha first saw this book, she said "Hey, it has my name. See S-A-M... Sam." I told her yes, and the book was for her.

In July Samantha got stung by a Bee at swimming lessons, and since then I have had a very hard time putting any clothes with flowers on her, and she is scared to go near flowers. I thought maybe this book could help her with her fear of Bees, and knowing that flowers are OK, and she wont get stung by a Bee every time she went near one.

The purpose of the book is to help children who have experienced traumatic events to be able to learn how to cope, and reduce the effects of traumatic stress.

Samantha had a nice time coloring the pages and talking about why she was scared of the Bees. After going through the book, and following it step by step, Sam feels much better, and is not scared of the Bees.

Sam's trauma is left open so that when a child is working with this book he
or she can use his or her own experiences in defining what experience Sam has
had. Sam's trauma could be a variety of things, sexual abuse,
physical or verbal abuse, natural disaster, war, dog bites. I left it open for
the child to decide, and for therapists and caregivers to decide if the child
they are working with could benefit. I did gear it toward the more severe
experiences children might have, such as abuse, but trauma is unique to each
person. One child might experience a dog bite as a minor incident, cry, get
medical attention, and have few other troubles, whereas another child might
experience it in a more traumatic way and develop nightmares of dogs, a fear of
dogs, or other disturbances.