I2WE

02/02/2026

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Lovely opportunity for Stellenbosch moms!!

💫Highly recommended⬇️

02/02/2026

02/02/2026

Through narrative play, children unfold dramas that help them make sense of their lives and give voice to what they cannot yet say in words.”

During National Storytelling Week, we are reminded that stories have always helped humans speak into the darkness. In play therapy, storytelling becomes a gentle, symbolic way for children to explore experiences that feel confusing, frightening or overwhelming.

Through narrative play, children use characters, plots and imagination to express what may feel too unsafe or unclear to say directly. The story creates just enough distance for the child to be heard, while still allowing their inner world to be seen.

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01/02/2026

What is ?

01/02/2026

Happy weekend everyone. May it be filled with sleep-ins, pancakes for brunch and as much “nothing” as possible.

01/02/2026

Children will look to their closest adult - a parent, a teacher, a grandparent, an aunt, an uncle - for signs of safety and signs of danger.

What the parent believes, the child will follow, for better or worse.

Anxiety doesn’t mean they aren’t safe or capable. It means they don’t feel safe or capable enough yet.

As long as they are safe, this is where they need to borrow our calm and certainty until they can find their own.

The questions to ask are, ‘Do I believe they are safe and cared for here?’ ‘Do I believe they are capable?’

It’s okay if your answer is no to either of these. We aren’t meant to feel safe handing our kiddos over to every situation or to any adult.

But if the answer is no, that’s where the work is.

What do you need to know they are safe and cared for? What changes need to be made? What can help you feel more certain? Is their discomfort from something unsafe or from something growthful? What needs to happen to know they are capable of this?

This can be so tricky for parents as it isn’t always clear. Are they anxious because this is new or because it’s unsafe?

As long as they are relationally safe (or have an adult working towards this) and their bodies feel safe, the work is to believe in them enough for them to believe it too - to handle our very understandable distress at their distress, make space for their distress, and show them we believe in them by what we do next: support avoidance or brave behaviour.

As long as they are safe, we don’t need to get rid of their anxiety or big feelings. Lovingly make space for those feelings AND brave behaviour. They can feel anxious and do brave.

‘I know this feels big. Bring all your feelings to me. I can look after you through all of it. And yes, this is happening. I know you can do this. We’ll do it together.’

But we have to be kind and patient with ourselves too. The same instinct that makes you a wonderful parent - the attachment instinct - might send your ‘they’re not safe’ radar into overdrive.

Talk to their adults at school, talk to them, get the info you need to feel certain enough, and trust they are safe, and capable enough, even when anxiety (theirs and yours) is saying no.❤️

01/02/2026

Our children provide us with an incredible invitation: to grow ourselves.

Their arrival awakens the narratives that hibernate within us. Our children show us our strengths and reveal our weaknesses. They are our students and our teachers.

It is up to us to take this opportunity and get reacquainted with and tend to the child within. 💗

30/01/2026

Catch our Co-Founder, Prof. Renata Schoeman on SFC-SA for a free webinar!

They’ll unpack the science around the mental health impact of screens, apps and games on child and adolescent brain development, and what mental health professionals are observing in South African children and adolescents.

29/01/2026

I hope you NOTICE....

To all my fellow therapists...