The Bears

We live our lives in the company of our feelings and emotions. And yet it can be very hard to talk about them.

Beloved by teachers, counsellors, parents and human service workers of every discipline, The Bears is a simple yet powerful resource for identifying, talking about and reflecting on feelings. Originally conceived as a ‘family sculpting’ tool, it have proved to be one of our most enduring and versatile card sets.

The Bears is able to speak directly to our feelings and emotions at a very deep level. They cross language, literacy, cultural, racial, age and gender boundaries. They have been used with great success by three-year-olds and 93-year-olds. The Bears have been used in preschools, in adult male prisons in New Zealand, with patients suffering dementia, in schools and universities, in management and service evaluation, in training hotel staff in Romania, by environmental educators in Fiji, by nurses in Japan, and with communities in Papua New Guinea.

This edition of The Bears, published in 2010, consists of 48 full colour cards with illustrations by Ben Wood and a booklet of suggestions for use. This iconic resource now has even more charm and covers an expanded range of emotions.

Perfect for social workers, psychologists, counsellors, teachers and chaplains, The Bears positively begs to be used creatively. The absence of text makes the cards ideal for use across myriad settings and contexts. If you haven’t used The Bears before, get ready to discover the beauty and simplicity of this classic resource.