🌿 Pegasus Counseling → Feelings Are Friends™

Feelings Are Friends™ grew out of my work as a Licensed Professional Counselor and the quiet, meaningful moments I’ve shared with children and families at Pegasus Counseling. For years, I have helped kids understand and express their emotions through connection, creativity, and compassion. Over time, I began noticing a beautiful pattern:

Children opened up more easily when they could see themselves in animals.

They were braver when a bunny was brave.

They understood anger when a hedgehog felt it too.

They felt less alone when a story gently mirrored their own experience.

Those moments became the heart behind the Feelings Are Friends™ series.

 

🐾 Inspired by My Therapy Animals

Many of my stories begin with the therapy animals who fill my office with personality and comfort:

Murphy, my golden retriever who brings calm everywhere he goes

Gus-Gus the hedgehog, small but full of heart, who inspired Henry

Fergus the lionhead rabbit, soft and steady

My family of parakeets, who spark curiosity and playfulness

And other beloved animals who have supported children simply by being themselves

These animals remind me—and the kids I work with—that feelings don’t need to be fixed or feared. They just need to be understood.

 

💛 My Mission

My mission with Feelings Are Friends™ is simple:

To help children understand their emotional world with gentleness, authenticity, and hope.

I believe:

• Feelings carry wisdom
• Stories can open doors to conversations children don’t yet have words for
• Emotional regulation is learned through connection
• Children thrive when they feel seen, supported, and safe

Every book I create is rooted in real therapeutic insight and written with an open heart.

🍃 Why I Create Social & Emotional Learning (SEL) Stories

I write these stories because I’ve watched children transform when they see their feelings reflected back to them.

 

When a child recognizes themselves in Henry’s anger or Jax’s loneliness, something shifts.

They feel understood.

They feel less alone.

They realize their feelings aren’t “too much” or “wrong”—they’re human.

My characters help children build emotional vocabulary, develop regulation skills, and explore their inner world in a gentle, age-appropriate way. These stories remind kids:

Your feelings matter.

You matter.

And you’re never alone in what you feel.

 

✨ A Warm Welcome

Whether you’re a parent, teacher, counselor, or someone who simply believes in raising emotionally healthy kids, I’m so glad you’re here.

 

Feelings Are Friends™ isn’t just a book series—it’s a safe place for children to learn about their emotional world, one story at a time.

Debra with Bella, one of the real-life inspirations behind the Feelings Are Friends™ series.

 

🦔 The Real-Life Henry

Gus-Gus isn’t your typical cuddly therapy animal. He’s a little grumpy, a little huffy, and very much his own hedgehog. When he’s startled or overwhelmed, he makes a loud “huff” and curls into a sharp “prickle ball.”

 

That’s where the idea for Anger Is a Hedgehog began.

 

In my therapy office, Gus-Gus helps children understand that anger is often a protective feeling. Like Gus-Gus huffing or popping when he feels unsafe, anger shows up to guard something soft and important underneath. And just like Gus-Gus, anger doesn’t make you bad—it means something needs care.

 

Gus-Gus helps me teach kids that even our prickliest moments deserve kindness and curiosity. And now, his spirit lives on in Henry.