FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact
Lonnie Cohen, Black Excellence and Abundance
551.580.0679
Press Inquiries: LonnDoo629@gmail.com
Website: https://www.flycounseling.com/
LOCAL COUNSELOR RELEASES CHILDREN’S BOOK DURING MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS MONTH TEACHING YOUTH SELF-ADVOCACY AND SEXUAL ABUSE PREVENTION
[Philadelphia, PA - May 13, 2021] Founded by Essence Cohen Fields in 2018 with the mission to help clients establish, develop, and maintain healthy relationships across all life domains, First Love Yourself Counseling (FLY Counseling) in Philadelphia, provides therapeutic processes for healing from trauma. This month during Mental Health Awareness Month, Essence Cohen Fields, celebrates the release of That’s Not Okay!, a family children’s book!
The book That’s Not Okay! teaches children to advocate for themselves and to recognize appropriate or inappropriate physical boundaries. Readers ages 3 years old - 8 years old will learn how to identify adults in their life that they love, trust, and can confide in to help ensure their safety. The book is plainly written in language for small children to easily understand. It has engaging questions throughout the read as well as a resource page to allow for parents or caregivers to be better equipped to expand the discussion of this topic, and providing necessary prevention tools in the case of a disclosure by the child.
Children are our most valuable yet vulnerable population who can, if properly taught, advocate for themselves while feeling empowered with the help of trusted loved ones. That is Fly Counseling’s mission for the book That’s Not Okay!, to release this informative and vital read that is a suitable children’s book for families.
Essence Cohen Fields is a Licensed Professional Counselor with over 10 years experience. Before opening her private practice, First Love Yourself Counseling, Essence worked with various populations including juvenile sex offenders. After spending 3 years working with this population, their families, and community it became clear that child survivors of sexual abuse had several key things in common - they were unaware that they could stand up for themselves in the moment, they did not know who they could tell, and in some of the most disheartening cases the adults in their lives under responded to their pain. “I hope families glean from That’s Not Okay! an increased awareness of potential high risk situations that can lead to exposure to a child’s physical boundaries being crossed. Sexual abuse is the most preventable form of physical and psychological trauma-and when it comes to trauma, prevention is always better than treatment.” shares expert Essence Cohen Fields.
In May, Mental Health Month raises awareness of trauma and the impact it can have on the physical, emotional, and mental well-being of children, families, and communities. Children who have experienced sexual abuse may show behavioral and emotional changes such as depression, angry outburst, anxiety, increase in nightmares, and withdraw. It is therefore critical to focus not only on detection, but on prevention and communication—by teaching children about body safety, healthy body boundaries, and by encouraging open communication about sexual matters.
Statistics show that:
1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys will be sexually abused before they turn 18 years old.
34% of people who sexually abuse a child are family members.
12.3% of girls were age 10 or younger at the time of their first rape/victimization, and 30% of girls were between the ages of 11 and 17.
27.8% of boys were age 10 or younger at the time of their first rape/victimization.
96% of people who sexually abuse children are male, and 76.8% of people who sexually abuse children are adults.
The book That’s Not Okay! is available for purchase online at $19.98 via the official website www.flycounseling.com/shop and selling on Amazon. Viewers and listeners can support the prevention of sexual child abuse by purchasing the book for a young person they love and by using the hashtags #ThatsNotOkay, #NotThem, and #FLYCounseling when reposting discussions about the book. Up next, viewers can expect That’s Not Okay! The Workbook to be released in a few months exclusively on the website www.FLYCounseling.com.
Essence Cohen Fields is available for select interviews. For sales, media inquiries and bookings please reach out to Lonnie Cohen, Black Excellence and Abundance via Phone # 551.580.0679 or email LonnDoo629@gmail.com
About The Author | Essence Cohen Fields is a trusted Licensed Professional Counselor with over 10 years of experience providing attainable goal based therapy. Essence is the Owner and Executive Director of First Love Yourself Counseling (FLY Counseling). Cohen has been featured as a mental health expert on NBC News, Bustle, Martha Stewart Weddings, as well as other publications, and is the author of the pocket guide, “A Lesson on How To FLY: Understanding the Correlation between Self-Love, Healing, and Personal Success.” She specializes in Trauma Processing and Boundary Setting, with a focus on sexual abuse and racial trauma.
About First Love Yourself Counseling | Our mission is to provide top notch confidential therapeutic service to individuals seeking guidance, clarity, and insight into their life experiences. Taking innovative approaches to therapy, First Love Yourself Counseling, LLC understands that each individual, couple, and family is unique and requires a tailored therapeutic experience to meet their clinical needs. As a result, we seek to equip our clients with the tools they need to live their best life through an ethical and healing process. We hope to join you on your journey of learning how to FLY to so that you may rise-in all areas of your life!
