Jane Evans

Once upon a time there was a Little Meerkat with a very important job to do. Today was the day when Little Meerkat finally took a turn at being the lookout meerkat - watching for dangers to protect the meerkat gang. It was all going well until Little Meerkat fell asleep and woke up to find everyone had disappeared! This sent Little Meerkat into one very big panic. With help from Small Elephant and Mini Monkey, can Little Meerkat calm down and find the missing meerkats? This playful full-colour storybook shows children aged 2-6 easy ways for them to calm their body and brain when feeling anxious. It also includes guidance for parents or professionals on the neuroscience behind the strategies, and how they can use the book to help children.

What is polyvagal theory? How can it help my family? This helpful illustrated guide breaks down exactly what polyvagal theory means and how you can use it to understand and connect with your child. Polyvagal theory looks at the way in-built stress reactions affect the way we think and act at any given time. By teaching you how to build an active awareness of how your child is feeling and how to ground your nervous system, this book will help you to understand their reactions and build your emotional regulation skills together. Whether you're a parent or an adult working with children, the valuable advice in this book will help you to be kinder and more present in your relationships, and to become a place of safety for your child.

A Path Unexpected is a well-written memoir by Jane Evans, founder and former-CEO of Ntataise Network Support Programme. In it, Jane shares her life story, about working as a journalist in the big city before moving to the small and, in some instances, backward town of Viljoenskroon in the northern Free State along with her husband, Anthony Evans, who was a well-known and respected businessman and farmer. It is here that she is moved to create her non-profit organisation to provide education and training for the wives and children of farm labourers during the height of apartheid. She has had a profound influence on these families and is considered an activist for advocating early childhood development (ECD) and adult teaching in rural communities. A Path Unexpected is a memoir about family, love, loss, finding purpose and dedicating oneself to a life of service. Eloquently written and told with great sensitivity and humility, this is a memoir about how one woman’s unexpected path led to family-like bonds in the unlikeliest of places, and a dream so profound that it would impact generations of young learners and the women who teach them.

Our generation is something the world has never seen before. Women born between 1950 and 1975 were pioneers in all areas of work and society, yet we have become almost completely invisible except to our families and friends, right at the time the world needs our wisdom, empathy and experience the most. OUR TIME IS NOW! INVISIBLE TO INVALUABLE is a celebration of what midlife women do, who we are and what we are capable of. It's a rallying cry for us to change the world for the better. With personal stories, exciting research and insights from a cast of inspirational women, Jane Evans and Carol Russell's manifesto blows open the ageism that's sidelined midlife women at work and in society, and sets out an empowering vision for a world where we can unlock our full potential. In a collection of chapters that range from the powerful to the playful and from the distant past to a brighter future, Jane and Carol show how there is no longer just 'young' and 'old' - there is a whole new middle that can be the best time of our lives. Even if we feel like we've hit rock bottom, or have disappeared entirely, there is a way back. This book will remind you how far we've come, show you what we're made of, and demonstrate how we can create a better future for all of us.

Cyril Squirrel asks lots of questions, but there's one thing that really puzzles Cyril..." What is love? Can I find it? Keep it? Do I need it?" With a notebook and a map, Cyril embarks on a quest to find out about love." Gone away to find out what love is. Back soon." Helping children to learn about the ways that love can look, sound or feel, this heart-warming picture book shows some of the many different forms love, friendship and kindness take. Suitable for all children aged 2-6, especially those who may have confused ideas about love, Cyril's adventure includes guidance for adults on how the book can be read with children.

What do Pablo Picasso, Prince and Martin Luther King Jr have in common? All have been described as having been highly sensitive boys and all grew up to be outstanding, sensitive men. Too often, adults think of sensitive boys as shy, anxious and inhibited. They are measured against society's ideas about 'manliness' -- that all boys are sociable, resilient and have endless supplies of energy. This highly readable guide is for any adult wanting to know how to understand and celebrate sensitive boys. It describes how thinking about boys in such old-fashioned ways can cause great harm, and make a difficult childhood all the more painful. The book highlights the real strengths shared by many sensitive boys - of being compassionate, highly creative, thoughtful, fiercely intelligent and witty. It also flips common negative clichés about sensitive boys being shy, anxious and prone to bullying to ask instead: what we can do to create a supportive environment in which they will flourish? Full of simple yet sage advice, this book will help you to encourage boys to embrace their individuality, find their own place in the world, and to be the best they can be.

Baby Bear lives in a home with the Big Bears, and loves to chase butterflies and make mud pies - they make Baby Bear's tummy fill with sunshine. Then, one night, Baby Bear hears a big storm downstairs in the house and in the morning, Baby Bear's tummy starts to feel grey and rainy. How will such a small bear cope with these big new feelings? This sensitive, charming storybook is written to help children who have lived with violence at home to begin to explore and name their feelings. Accompanied by notes for adults on how to use each page of the story to start conversations, it also features fun games and activities to help to understand and express difficult emotions. It will be a useful book for social workers, counsellors, domestic violence workers and all grown-ups working with children.

'A very practical text that provides professionals new to this arena with a good introduction to what they can expect to encounter in online work. The book contains numerous thought-provoking examples and exercises for those contemplating work in virtual arenas' - Terry Hanley, Lecturer in Counselling, University of Manchester `It's tempting to think that face-to-face experience translates straightforwardly to online work. But it doesn't. Jane Evans shows how many different aspects there are to counselling on-line… My advice would be, don't attempt it until you have worked through this book' - Professor Michael Jacobs, author of Psychodynamic Counselling in Action Counsellors - and other professionals who provide emotional support and guidance - are increasingly working online. The difference between online and face-to-face interaction with clients is vast and practitioners need to equip themselves with specialist knowledge and skills to ensure that they are being effective. Online Counselling and Guidance Skills is the first book to deal with the practicalities of this mode of working. It looks at how practitioners need to adapt their basic counselling skills to the online environment and guides them through the process of setting up, defining and maintaining a working relationship with a client within professional, ethical and legal boundaries. Case studies and extracts from online sessions show how the skills are put into practice, while practical exercises and points for further consideration help readers to develop their own knowledge and skills. Until now, books and articles have generally focused on the therapeutic work done by counsellors online. However, this book addresses people who use counselling skills in a wide range of contexts; including counselling, education, mental health, social care and careers guidance.

'A very practical text that provides professionals new to this arena with a good introduction to what they can expect to encounter in online work. The book contains numerous thought-provoking examples and exercises for those contemplating work in virtual arenas' - Terry Hanley, Lecturer in Counselling, University of Manchester `It's tempting to think that face-to-face experience translates straightforwardly to online work. But it doesn't. Jane Evans shows how many different aspects there are to counselling on-line… My advice would be, don't attempt it until you have worked through this book' - Professor Michael Jacobs, author of Psychodynamic Counselling in Action Counsellors - and other professionals who provide emotional support and guidance - are increasingly working online. The difference between online and face-to-face interaction with clients is vast and practitioners need to equip themselves with specialist knowledge and skills to ensure that they are being effective. Online Counselling and Guidance Skills is the first book to deal with the practicalities of this mode of working. It looks at how practitioners need to adapt their basic counselling skills to the online environment and guides them through the process of setting up, defining and maintaining a working relationship with a client within professional, ethical and legal boundaries. Case studies and extracts from online sessions show how the skills are put into practice, while practical exercises and points for further consideration help readers to develop their own knowledge and skills. Until now, books and articles have generally focused on the therapeutic work done by counsellors online. However, this book addresses people who use counselling skills in a wide range of contexts; including counselling, education, mental health, social care and careers guidance.