About The Project

Cultivating emotional wellness in children by equipping the adults who guide them.

After working in public education for over 25 years, The Emotional Wellness Project™ was launched as a platform for sharing practical strategies for developing emotional wellness that are based on educational best practices and current research in the fields of social emotional learning, counseling, and psychology.  

Investing in the Emotional Wellness Project was a natural outcome of a desire to share successful practices in my work as a school counselor with other educators, child therapists, parents and guardians.  

The book My Incredible Talking Body: Learning to Be Calm, was written after I was charged to make a positive impact on the social and emotional development of the students in an elementary school with a student population nearly 1,200 students in grades preschool to 6th grade.

When I couldn’t find a picture book to reinforce all of the great skills the children were learning in the social emotional learning curriculum that was already being taught in their classrooms, I created a homemade version of this book to support my teaching. Happily, I found the book provided an efficient and effective way of making the research based strategies easily accessible to younger children. The picture book format was engaging, easy to deliver, and flexible for using with individuals, small groups, classes, and larger student groups.

After observing positive outcomes while using this book with hundreds of students over the years, I wanted to share this tool and the strategies contained within it with others in my field and related careers.

Growing up is a difficult thing. Kids are constantly confronted with brand new challenges every day, each bringing with it a new and often unanticipated emotion. As children grow, they slowly become more and more aware of their feelings and the feelings of others, but often don't know how to identify them or how exactly to respond.

Do you remember the first time you felt angry with a friend? Or how it felt to unexpectedly lose a pet or a loved one? 

Emotions are powerful, and without tools to help them cope and process what they're feeling kids can often feel overwhelmed. It's our job as parents, educators and mentors to help children understand emotion, as well as teach them how to successfully manage them, so they can confront the many challenges of life head-on with empathy and kindness toward others.

This teaching not only happens in schools, but also in the home.

People who are emotionally healthy have the ability to recognize and communicate about their emotions effectively. They successfully manage emotion by regulating their physical and behavioral reactions in ways that promote wellness and positive relationships. 

Emotionally healthy people are compassionate and empathetic. They know how to care for themselves and care for others, and can approach problems or conflicts in their lives with flexibility and a positive mindset. 

1) Encourage recognition of emotions.

2) Build ability to label and communicate feelings appropriately.

3) Teach strategies for self-regulation.

4) Develop decision-making and problem-solving skills.

5) Nurture empathy for others.

About Rebecca Bowen

Rebecca Bowen, M.Ed. has worked for over 25 years in public schools as a special education teacher, school psychologist, and school counselor. She is deeply committed to developing emotional wellness in children and equipping educators and parents to support this growth. 

With her own three children grown and married, she has launched The Emotional Wellness Project™ in order to share helpful tools and resources discovered along the way.

Cultivating her own emotional wellness, Rebecca is active in her faith and enjoys photography, gardening, playing the violin, and long walks with her husband along the shores of the Pacific Ocean.