Feel Better Packs

Designed to educate, equip, and empower

Feel Better Packs help kids in traumatic circumstances, to begin to engage in self-healing by utilizing evidence-based, developmentally appropriate mind-body skills that are culturally neutral. The mind-body skills are skillfully crafted to include the use of toys and art supplies to make their practice of the skills more engaging, joyful and effective.

Problem

There is a public health emergency for children worldwide that threatens their long-term physical and mental health: This emergency is called Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES). 

ACES cause dysregulation of body and brain systems in short-term and in the long-term by interfering with normal regulation of the activity of the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS). These experiences are associated with intense stress and trauma resulting from natural disasters and humanitarian crises as well as abuse, neglect, poverty, violence, displacement and much more.

  • ACEs significantly heighten the risk of developing mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

  • Cumulative exposure to traumatic events, including natural disasters, can exacerbate the psychological distress experienced by children with ACEs. 

  • Adverse Childhood Experiences can also interfere with normal developmental processes due to the chronic stress they induce. 

This can all lead to difficulties in learning, behavior, and social interactions, as children with high ACE scores may struggle with self-regulation and emotional control, which can be further challenged during traumatic events.

Solution

Fortunately, evidence-based interventions for ACEs, such as mind-body skills, can help mitigate both the short-term and long-term negative impacts by managing the balance of the Autonomic Nervous System.

Recognizing this potential, Dr. Tim Culbert and Dr. Karen Olness, alongside other healthcare professionals, developed a self-contained solution: the Feel Better Pack.

Feel Better Packs offer a simple, cost-effective, and versatile way to deliver mind-body knowledge, coaching, and skills to children and caregivers. 

Each pack includes universally appealing, safe items like pinwheels, crayons, paper, stickers, stress balls, bubbles, essential oils, and finger puppets. These items can make the practice of self-care skills more fun, engaging, and interactive for children.

Overall, the Feel Better Pack initiative modernizes a legacy of similar efforts that have been distributed in various forms over the past 20 years, both in the US and globally.

Testimonial

“Feel Better Packs provide children and families in poverty with resources they may not otherwise be able to access. These self-care kits promote the practice, use, and generalization of mind-body skills children are learning in our Be the Boss of Your Stress program. They impact real-world use of these skills in very positive ways.”

- Gerard Banez, PhD

  • Testimonial

    I have seen Feel Better Packs help children and adults participate in their own healing process. The Feel Better Kits are creative and fun tools to build resilience by helping develop skills to calm the mind, body and heart. I would recommend Feel Better Packs wholeheartedly to any child, anywhere, struggling  with stress, trauma or adverse childhood experiences (ACES)!

    - Kevin Harrington PhD, Licensed Psychologist

  • It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken adults.

    - Frederick Douglas

  • WHY FIT IN WHEN YOU WERE BORN TO STAND OUT?

    - Dr. Seuss

  • With each new day comes new strength and new thoughts.

    - Eleanor Roosevelt

  • Your life doesn’t get better by chance, it gets better by change.

    - Jim Roth

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