My brother in law started a counseling center. He took one of my puppets to work and got a little boy who had not talked in months to say his first words. He was so thrilled, he asked if I had any more puppets that I wasn't using. I only had one boy puppet who was not being used in our shows now, but I hope to make him a little girl, mom, and dad puppet soon. A puppet can reach a kid when no one else can, that is pretty awesome.

Good for you! puppets are a great resource for all types of therapy.

Very cool.  It must be a great feeling knowing that your work has lead to something so fantastic.

Now I am speechless. Congrats, that must feel awesome!

Wow that is really great!

I forgot to ask him if he was working the puppet or the kid. I could see them both talking to each other with puppets so I should make some smaller kids size ones too.  Maybe a happy monster would break the ice.  In our puppet shows the younger kids seem to respond to the animal puppets more than people puppets. I once had a doctor from Africa request a doctor, nurse, and "Germ" puppet. I always wondered how he used that germ.

Tutorial, I'd suppose...?

I went to a workshop 15+ years ago and the topic was using puppets as therapy with children.  One of the hospitals, I think it is the one in Memphis, has (or had, I assume they still do) a full time puppet therapist on staff.  It was so awesome to watch the videos of the children interacting with the puppet.

This is completely awesome!

I have always believed that laughter is good for the body and soul.  It has been shown to help in the healing process (physically and spiritually) and humor encourages us to laugh when we would not otherwise feel like it, putting us into a better mood.