An Invitation to meet The Worry Eaters!

At our recent PBPeople Trainer meeting, John Fardon introduced us to Sepp:

Sepp is one of the family of Worry Eaters produced by German-based company Sorgenfresser and available in the UK via Hilton House Publishers. The dolls are designed to help children and young people manage and overcome their fears and worries by encouraging them to record these in either in words or pictures and then zipper inside the Worry Eater’s mouth.
In terms of PBs they could link well with Themes 1 & 2 providing people with a way to ‘talk’ and thereby feel safer.
Further information can be found at:
www.hintonpublishers.com
I also discovered a couple of newspaper articles linked to these:
www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-27183...nxious-children.html
www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/j...eater-excellent-idea

It feels a bit sad to me that this toy is potentially being described at the 'must have' present for Santa to leave under the tree for lots of boys and girls, although if it provides a way for people to start being able to talk about things they feel worried or fearful of, I guess that's a step in a safer direction. And I wonder who Sepp might recommend they could talk with if the worries or fears didn't end just from zipping them away?
I'd be interested in hearing if anyone has any experience of using Sepp and any of the other Worry Eaters
:huh:

John Fardon, PB trainer and Educational Entitlement Officer for Nothamptonshire County Council has just forwarded me the following information regarding how he uses this resource - many thanks John for sharing your work

The value of networks

I have a wonderful friend called Stripey. He is a worry eater. He comes with me when I work with children. He is so soft that you can’t help but stroke him and he has long ears that are good for listening. The beauty of Stripey is that he takes a while to consider how he might respond, sometimes saying nothing and at other times whispering a response in my ear. He listens to so many worries that children know that they can share, even if it feels awful or small.
So how does it work? Stripey has a zipped mouth that can be opened and shut. Worries can be drawn or written on small bits of paper or post-it notes and popped into his mouth and zipped up. This worry can be taken away by Stripey and the child can decide what they want Stripey to do with it. I have used this with a child who wrote his worries down and put them in Stripey’s mouth; worries about friendship, tests and going away. Other worries from other children include Mum and Dad fighting, the loss of their pet, getting in to school, and you can think of many more I am sure.
Stripey has a large family, with smaller brothers and sisters and even some babies who can be attached to a key ring. Having seen Stripey and used him to help with problems, one of my pupils has persuaded Mum and Dad to buy one and now he uses him at home – strangely enough he tells Mum a lot more now, instead of bottling things up. He is also very playful and enables me to bring humour into what can sometimes be a very serious situation, so children will smile at him. He can also respond to them with gestures and encouragement. It is this element of ‘playfulness’ that Dan Hughes promotes in his PLACE model – see www.danielhughes.org/ I would highly recommend that you either go and hear Dan Hughes when he visits the Centre for Child Mental Health in London, or read some of his books and articles. PLACE stands for playfulness, love, acceptance, curiosity and empathy. It is a model that I use constantly alongside PBs.
If you would like someone like Stripey on your network please visit www.hintonpublishers.com/worry_eaters.php and choose one for yourself, your work organisation or family and friends. My current work is as an Education Entitlement Officer – Mental Health, with Northamptonshire County Council jfardon@northamptonshire.gov.uk. I also have a website with different articles about children and interventions to help them www.empower-plus.co.uk . I hope this helps you and the children you may work with.
John Fardon - December 2014