May 2021
My name is Shirley Snow, I created Healing Puzzles during a period after..
My name is Shirley Snow, I created Healing Puzzles during a period after my divorce from the father of my children We had an amicable split and have remained friends. A few years after a child of a friend who was at our home quite a bit. It was thought this child’s observations of my relationship with my ex-husband, that the idea for Healing Puzzles was born. This child knew my children and spent time at our house and during that time witnessed interaction between my ex-husband and I. The child would sometimes be at my place when my children’s dad would come to pick them up for the weekend, he would come in set down have a coffee and a chat to get clued in on the past week if we haven’t communicated on the phone. We had a great relationship in spite of not being together. We had two children and our main priority was to keep them happy and in a still balanced home environment (now meaning two balanced home environments). We did not want our children to suffer for our decisions, both of our children we wanted, loved and forever would be our number one priority. The child that visited on occasion to our home noticed the difference in how myself and my ex-husband communicated than his/her parents did. The child wondered why my ex-husband could come inside and go to the fridge, make a coffee, go in the children’s rooms etc. …when her /his dad had to stay out in the driveway and not allowed in the home. The child was hurting by the way the parents interacted and saw that not everyone that were not together behaved that way. I did not know what to say that would be helpful. I just said everyone families have different rules and what works for us might not work for other parents. The questions kept coming and the child was getting more agitated with time I could feel the stress this child was going through and I thought there must be something I can do to help children who are going through this type of situation. I sat down and came up with what I thought would help open the eyes of the parents who were having a difficult breakup. To allow them to look at the situation though the eyes of the child. To be able to sit back and try to understand what is happening from their perspective.
I created the first Healing puzzle from the point of view of the child. Its purpose is to help parents and children discuss their feelings surrounding a separation and divorce and to be a tool that aids communication between family members. It is great for children to be told they are not the reason for this change in their lives and to be assured that both parents will do their upmost to stay on the same page. This Healing Puzzle can also help open up feeling about step parents and step siblings. It can allow the child or children know that it is perfectly ok to love their step parent and their step siblings. This is a little insight into my first Healing Puzzle. I kept the material for this puzzle for a while and questioned myself and criticized myself saying “who was I to create this kind of a product” I was not a psychologist… Who did I think I was creating this? Then one evening I took it and I was going to burn it but something stopped me! I could not do it, I put it back onto my desk and sat down and over time came up with 26 more giving a total of 27 and there are more on the way. I have gone through some of the issues in my own life and with the help of a great team, we are allowing those products to be customized by the Counsellor him or herself. This will allow each and every puzzle to be uniquely customized by the qualified person in charge of the session and it will be customized to meet the individual needs of the client who is seeking the help of the counsellor. My vision is that Healing Puzzles will become a tool that will bridge the gap between counsellors and their clients of all ages, gender and geographical location. Wellness encompasses such a large part of our well being and there are many who find it difficult to express how they feel. Puzzles are known to be therapeutic when used in our everyday life, when they are customized to cover a certain issue the motion will trigger the calmness experienced when doing a regular puzzle, thus will make it easier to discuss the statement on a given puzzle piece. This tool will allow them to either speak or to write in the chat box. The counsellor will have the option to save eachcomment and together they will discuss each statement on each puzzle piece. This will continue over a number of sessions until the puzzle is all completed and either the client will have a break through or at least see there is light at the end of the tunnel. Healing Puzzles is not a cure but I feel compelled to get these on the market because I believe this series of interactive, therapeutic tools can help many people around the world deal with issues and illness that are inflicting them on a daily basis. This is needed now more than ever before; we are dealing with a worldwide pandemic and Healing Puzzles may help bridge the gap between the counselor and the client and alleviate some of the stress and anxiety that clients may be dealing with.