A picture book for all children learning to understand and regulate big emotions. Dani helps children learn about their body’s fire alarm and how to cope with anxiety.
Dani the Dachshund - Learns about his fire alarm
Now Available for Online Order
The 'Why' Behind the Books
A key part of my therapy with adults is exploring and understanding stressors that occurred in childhood that continue to impact our coping styles and wellbeing to this day. It is too often that my adult clients say "I have never spoken about this before". They have taken away meaning from a stressor at a time when they were too young to make sense of what was occurring, and frequently blamed themselves. This, over time, has led to the development of negative thinking patterns or 'schemas'.
The Dani the Dachshund series was inspired by my work in Clinical Psychology and training in attachment-based therapies such as Schema Therapy. Picture books can be a powerful way for parents or adults in a child's life to have conversations about stressors (e.g. parent separation) whilst using emotion-focused and trauma-informed language.
The debut book in the series was written as a key educational resource for all children to learn about their body's fire alarm. Designed for both children and adults to develop skills in managing feelings of anxiety in the comfort of their own home.
By Olivia Yaksich
About the Author
Olivia Yaksich is a Clinical Psychologist and Founder of Livwell Psychology in Australia. She has a particular interest in the impact of childhood stressors on an individual's wellbeing across the lifespan, and utilises a resilience-based approach to support her clients in her practice.
Olivia is an Industry Fellow at the University of Queensland, and a Senior Clinical Research Psychologist within the Neurodevelopmental Follow-Up and Outcomes Group at Mater Research.