Abbie’s Story

Abbie had always loved dolls. She would play with them for hours on end, setting up afternoon tea parties and dances and creating worlds that were filled with adventures, joy and hope. Her play reflected her own world that was safe and assured and happy. But her world changed when her mother’s new boyfriend began stealing into Abbie’s room and sexually abusing her. Abbie’s play stopped. Her world of imagination crumbled.

Simon’s Story

Not long after 7 year-old Simon entered our therapeutic care program, he told his carer Joanne about his three imaginary friends: Peter, a boy who was strong and tough and stabbed people; Ryan, who punched and hit and hurt people; and Killer, a dog who bit and barked and kept people away.
When Joanne asked, “Why do you have these friends who are so mean and scary?” Simon thought for a moment and replied: “To protect me.”

Heartfelt Dolls

Research has shown us that exploring children’s senses through toys and games helps to unlock the trauma held in children’s bodies. However, we found that there were very few sensory toys and games available that met the needs of our specialised approach to helping children’s healing, so we developed our own range of sensory dolls for use with children in counselling.

Special places where children can heal

Our vision for children, families and carers is to create purpose-built, state-of-the-art centres where children can access the support they need to develop strong, secure connections with safe and reliable adults in their lives.