Donielle Fagan essays the dual role of a mother and a therapist. Her focus and objective is to work towards the betterment of the mental health and well-being of children. Donielle Fagan released a children’s book titled “My Feelings Are Okay.” This book is a guide on how to engage the emotions of young readers in a healthy and productive way. Donielle Fagan drew inspiration to write this book after the birth of her son. It is a heartwarming and interesting book. Her objective is also to empower caregivers with the art of teaching children coping strategies that are highly effective from the early years.
In this short guide Donielle Fagan has shown how even negative feelings like anger, fear, sadness and others are okay or children to have. She lists out certain coping mechanisms that can help children manage and cope with these feelings. This book can build a strong foundation for children, and their development in the coming years during their growth will be much better. The necessary life skills at various stages can be taught to them. She advocates the fact that all feelings are natural and one must know how to cope with them. She suggests a coping mechanism for every emotion. It is seen that feelings such as anger are looked down upon by society and considered a social stigma. She challenges that thought process and says it is important to have one’s coping mechanisms in place instead of trying to thwart natural emotions and feelings.
Her work was targeted at toddlers and young adults but it is a universal thought process that can be used by children of all ages and they can benefit from it too. This book and guide can be placed in classrooms and situations where young adults can guide children through key messages and learnings from here. Fagan uses her professional and personal experience through certain practical exercises in the book.
