Tools for Families

Games and exercises you can try with your child to help them feel calm and safe. These are things a therapist might teach in session — practicing at home can make them easier to use when a hard moment comes. These tools are a support, not a replacement for therapy.

Building a calm place

Tools that help create a safe, comforting inner space to return to when things feel big.

Put a worry aside for now

Choose a container. Writing anything down is optional.

Clinical practice

Imagine a gentle light

Explore color and imagination at your own pace.

Clinical practice

Imagine a calm place

Choose a place and details to make it your own.

Clinical practice

Build a scene

Arrange figures in the sand. There is no right scene to make.

Clinical practice

For big feelings

Breathing, grounding, and body-based tools to help when feelings get overwhelming.

Notice what is around you

Explore one sense at a time. Skip any that do not suit you.

Find a comfortable breath

Try a gentle pace. You can breathe normally or stop at any time.

Clinical practice

Try gentle alternating taps

Follow a rhythm you and your clinician have chosen.

Understanding how I feel

Ways to name, measure, and talk about what's happening inside.

Name a feeling

Choose a feeling and explore words that fit.

Clinical practice

How strong is the feeling?

Use a 0–10 scale with optional child-friendly language.

Used in studied protocols

How true does it feel?

Use a 1–7 belief scale together with your clinician.

Used in studied protocols