Introducing Sparky & Shady

Do you know that 1 in 4 young people aged 16 – 24 has a current mental health condition?

Kathy Sheehan, a local author, primary school teacher and behaviour management specialist believes this is a direct result of our children’s lack of self-awareness.

“No one teaches our kids how their body, personality, feelings and thoughts all work together. Then as soon as something terrible happens to them (big or small) they listen to the fearful voice in their head (‘Shady’) and eventually believe they are hopeless, helpless and worthless.”

This is exactly what happened to Kathy after a motorbike accident at 22 and it has been her quest ever since to make sure it doesn’t happen to other young people. Kathy has spent the last 23 years researching, teaching, testing and writing her ‘Sparky and Shady’ program to empower kids to be self-aware so they can cope with problems, believe in themselves and follow their dreams.

Kathy believes that many grown ups in our society are unhappy and unfulfilled because they too have believed the fearful voice in their head that tells them they ‘can’t achieve their dreams’ and that in the big picture they ‘can’t make a difference’. Kathy totally disagrees, she believes every single person on earth is here to do something loving and amazing that no one else can do in the exact same way. Empowering a whole new generation to listen to and trust the loving voice in their head (Sparky) will break this cycle!

If you are interested in empowering your child aged 7-15, Kathy runs two-day workshops for kids each school holiday.

In the workshops children meet Sparky (their loving side) and Shady (their fearful side) and learn:

• How to tell the difference between their loving and fearful thoughts.
• How their body, personality, feelings and thoughts all work together.
• Three strategies to manage their body, feelings and thoughts – ‘Short cuts’
• A strategy that works to cope with problems and let go of ‘baggage’ – ‘Pit Stop’.
• Three secrets to believe in themselves.
• Three secrets to follow their dreams.

To reinforce their new knowledge and to support kids to use the practical strategies learnt in the workshops, children can follow up with eight weeks of after school classes to help them develop healthy habits for life.

Ideally parents can support and reinforce their children’s learning by attending the one-day parent workshop on the last Saturday of each school holidays.

For more details go to sparkyandshady.com