The Authentic SELF: Learnings from Professional Development Day
On day two of my internship, I got to participate in a professional lecture where I learned from Kendra Nicole Petersen, a child and family occupational therapist, parenting coach, and founder of “Authentic Kids Therapy”. She talked about “The Feel to Learn Process” she created, and honestly, it was such an eye-opening lecture. I’ll be thinking about and applying her approach in future sessions with clients and even in daily life too–especially her core reminder:
“First feel, then learn” – Kendra Nicole Petersen
Essentially, we have to understand how we feel and who we are to effectively learn and participate in the world–and that goes for everyone, not just clients.
Kendra recently published “The Authentic SELF”–a 500+ page, clinically grounded, neurodiversity-affirming curriculum that helps school-aged kids tune into their emotions and get ready to learn. It’s packed with resources, methods, ready-to-use visuals, writing activities for ages 4-14, and licensing portals for classrooms and therapists. She even designed her own font! What’s even crazier is that she did all of this in just two years! So impressive!
Kendra’s whole approach is about creating space for kids (and honestly all of us) to feel safe enough to learn and grow. She points something out that’s easy to miss, especially for those of us in helping roles. She puts it like this:
“Participation can come at the cost of authenticity” – Kendra Nicole Petersen
Showing up and playing the part gets rewarded, but nobody stops to ask if it pulls you away from who you actually are. We mask authenticity without even noticing–in daily life, casual interactions, the classroom, sessions with clients, etc. Moving forward, we could all be a little more real and let the people we work with bring their full selves to the table and allow their authenticity to shine through.
Check out Kendra’s website and Instagram Page for more info and while you’re there, look at her custom font too–it’s super cool!
-Jayda Hunstad, MTI
#ProfessionalDay #socio-emotional #regulation #neuro-diverseaffirming
#OccupationalTherapy #tools #learning