About Us

    I made this workbook to use myself, with kiddos I meet with through the school. I had absolutely no intention of ever printing it for anyone else. June 2021, a few of us went to a training given by Steve & Dorthy Halley from Family Peace Initiative out of Topeka, Kansas.  (Visit www.familypeaceinitiative.com for more information about their Level 1 training.)   After attending that training (which was unlike any other I had ever been to- we went through the process ourselves in order to learn about ourselves but also how to apply it with others), I wanted to create my own guide so that I could use it with students. Mostly, I wanted this to be my guide so that I would not forget the steps they had used in the training. I wanted to do it right so that the students could benefit from it the same way I had benefited going through it. After attending several more of their trainings, our Positive Behavioral Support Specialist and I went to Topeka to meet with them, with no real agenda other than brainstorming of how we could get this information into schools. What came from that meeting was more conversations about them doing a training for educators in our area and the suggestion of finishing the worksheets I had started and publishing the workbook. When Steve made the comment about publishing it, I burst out laughing at the idea. C.r.a.z.y. But, 5 months after that meeting, it was complete. 

     I have been a School Social Worker for 20+ years with the North Central Kansas Special Education Cooperative, and so often I have wondered if I have made that much difference in a student's life. Sure, helping some, but a significant difference? I've only begun applying the process of this training, this workbook, with students, and so far I love the changes in kiddos that I see. I hear them, their answers going through the process, their understanding. I see them, them thinking about what they are learning. I see their tears as they come to different realizations. Their behaviors in the classroom or at home may not always reflect what is going on in their minds from our meetings, but the motion of change is happening. My hope is that eventually that process of changing their thoughts, their beliefs, produce changes in behavior. Do I think it can help students? Absolutely. I think it can help adults. Is it just for trauma? No. Anyone, with any life experiences can benefit from doing the work and getting a better understanding of themselves. Do I think it is going to "fix" someone? By itself, no. Then why? Why put it out there? Because it does a great job at helping people understand themselves better, understand their past, and how the two correlate. And hopefully, it can begin the process of change. But it doesn't end the moment you reach the end of the workbook. The "fixing" of one's self is continual. It's ongoing. And what makes that even harder to do is that Satan is at work every single day in this world. Evil does exist. And sometimes, sometimes Satan wins. Sometimes he wins small victories when we believe lies about ourselves or we do something we know we shouldn't. And sometimes he wins big victories when someone lets the evil consume them. All we have to do is turn on the news to see examples of that. So, it is continual work that we must do, even after completing this workbook, and applying what we've learned in the workbook every single day. And that's hard. .... I am not claiming that this workbook will help everyone in the same way, or to the same level. But, it has significantly changed the way I work with students. And for those students that I start to see the understanding in, the change in, for me it's been worth it. I pray that it is worth it to them as well.