Making space for all our emotions…

The 7 Cosmic Powers span a range of strategies drawn from mindfulness-based therapies, self-kindness, cognitive-behaviour therapy and positive psychology techniques. First and foremost though, we emphasise the need for kids to have a strong team - caring and trusting relationships with adults and friends. The graphic novel story also addresses social skills.

Tales of the Emotosphere was written for kids with emotions, in other words, all kids! We believe it’s normal to have a range of feelings, from those that feel good, like happiness and joy, to those that can be painful or even feel scary, like anxiety or anger. That’s why we think everyone benefits from knowing a range of evidence-based psychology skills, so we can pick and choose what helps when times are tough. 

Some kids who read Tales of the Emotosphere will have a diagnosed or suspected mental health problem, like anxiety or depression. Where this is the case, we would advise you contact your child’s GP, school and local organisations and charities to see what help is available that is specific to your child’s needs and close to home. We hope that Tales of the Emotosphere can help families and professionals support kids at these times. For example, children can use the examples from characters and storylines in the book to give them a language to talk about their feelings and seek comfort and support. It can be used as a tool for counsellors and therapists to engage with kids going through difficulty, until they are on more stable ground. Tales of the Emotosphere is not recommended as an alternative to therapy or any other kind of mental health support, or as a crisis resource.

Tales of the Emotosphere is designed to be as fun and engaging - as accessible - as possible for the biggest range of children possible! Kids who need a lot of visual excitement and humour to grip them (in other words, many kids!) are likely to benefit. Children who find it difficult to think in an abstract way (e.g. to understand metaphor and humour) might need some guidance to get the most out of some parts of the book.

Tales of the Emotosphere can complement schools’ SEND and wellbeing provision by providing a resource to reinforce strategies for emotional literacy and emotional regulation that schools have in place. Our research with schools wellbeing leads has shown us that there can be a gap in help between school and home - while schools can provide information, it’s hard to make that support accessible to children at home. Tales of the Emotosphere provides a tangible, hard copy resource that kids can take away in their school bag, to open up supportive conversations in the family.