AIRED: July 10, 2017– 11 am PST
SPECIAL GUEST: Janine McGraw and Kathryn Snell-Ryan
A Penny For Your Thoughts innovates interactive card games and products that inspire communication, connection, and problem solving. A Penny For Your Thoughts: a survival kit for kids & adults is a kid friendly communication card game that sparks conversation and playfully opens the door to kids’ social and emotional lives.
A Penny For Your Thoughts: a survival kit for kids & adults includes 80 hand-illustrated cards designed to increase connection between kids and adults, foster positive ways to communicate feelings, and teach social and emotional skills that lead to success – at home, at school and with friends.
Kids identify how they feel, who’s involved, where something happened, and skills they can use to cope with challenging situations and big feelings. There’s no one way to engage with children. So follow the instructions, or play by your own rules!
This game integrates social and emotional learning (SEL) skills, helping children to articulate their feelings and learn how to manage them in healthy and adaptive ways. While these skills aren’t learned overnight, we believe that practicing them can be fun, connecting, and completely within reach!
Social and emotional learning (SEL) is the process through which children learn and apply the skills necessary to manage their emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, and make responsible decisions.
SEL is based on the understanding that the best learning for children happens in the context of connected relationships, where learning can truly be challenging, engaging, and meaningful.
ABOUT JANINE MCGRAW & KATHRYN SNELL-RYAN
Janine McGraw is a Licensed Professional Counselor, who brings a blend of academic and professional experience to her practice. Through her personal experience with therapy, healing from parent suicide and loss during her childhood she came to believe deeply in the power of therapy, the therapeutic relationship, and empathy as a means for change.
Prior to private practice, Janine worked in community mental health and with The Trauma Healing Project in Eugene to support individuals and couples experiencing grief, trauma and loss. Her professional experience also includes 15 years working in Communications for global corporations in San Diego and the Bay Area where Janine developed a profound awareness of the need for transparent communications, integrated work spaces and social and emotional integration in the workplace.
Kathryn Snell-Ryan is a mother of two, and she has worked as a family therapist for 14 years – from Chicago where she earned her graduate degree, to the Southern United States for several years, and now the Pacific Northwest where for the past 8 years she has felt most at home. She is the Founder of Pacific Sky Counseling, Co-Founder of Willamette Sky Counseling, and Co-Founder of A Penny For Your Thoughts – a kid’s communication card game that helps improve emotional intelligence and increase meaningful connection between children and adults.
Kathryn is committed to helping kids, teens, and families connect with one another, communicate in healthy ways, and re-discover their fun and joy. Family life is a complex and challenging experience, where everyone’s vulnerabilities are regularly brought to the surface. Navigating these complexities so that relationships are strengthened is what Kathryn is most passionate about in her practice.
