Nothing is more fulfilling to Karen Warren-Severson than helping people cope with grief and loss. And to put a unique spin on the delicate grieving process, the local psychotherapist wrote and self published “Mending your Heart,” an activity book for bringing inside feelings out.

“The book is geared towards 5 to 11 year olds, but I am finding adults are enjoying it, too,” the counselor said of the activity book she will launch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at City Drug.

The 23-page book features information on loss in a way that young people can relate to, Warren-Severson explained. It also comes equipped with a felt heart, glitter glue, buttons, beads, and more for readers to put a broken heart back together.

The book, Warren-Severson said, is the kind of work she sees herself doing more and more.

Two loves come together

For most of Warren-Severson’s adult life, she has studied grief and the ways people interact with the emotion.

“I’ve been thinking about how people grieve in the United States since the ‘80s,” she explained. “I feel strongly we don’t have a good model of how we cope with grief. We don’t introduce children how to deal with loss.”

In 2007, Warren-Severson experienced a loss of her own when her husband, Paul Severson, lost a battle with an illness. Following his death, Warren-Severson found herself wondering what was next for her.

“I love working with fiber and I was thinking of how I could bring together my therapy work and love of fiber,” she said.

The idea of mending hearts came to her and she began teaching mending heart workshops for adults. To the class, Warren-Severson would bring in a wool heart she had felted and have the adults in her class cut the heart to represent their losses, she said. Together, the group would repair or mend their broken hearts.

“It is so meaningful to work with people who are grieving,” Warren-Severson said. “It is such a rich time, so much is possible because people are broken up by grief.”

As Warren-Severson shared her teachings with others, it was suggested by her aunt that she turn her work into a book.

“When thinking about the story, I had to find a way in,” Warren-Severson said. “The story I needed just wouldn’t come together.”

Working with children

While substitute teaching at Center Montessori School in Bradenton, Fla., Warren-Severson tried her mending heart activity on seventh and eighth grade students. While working with the students, she developed a way of talking about loss with children.

“That was the key,” Warren-Severson said.

Soon, she was doing the workshop with all grade levels and her way into the story she was trying to uncover was found.

“Working with children is one of the most astonishing things I’ve ever done,” the counselor said. “For me, doing this work with children became this great source of energy and passion.”

From this experience, “Mending your Heart” was born.

Self publishing a book

As she prepares to launch “Mending your Heart,” Warren-Severson reflects on the collaboration efforts that went into the completion of the story that was written on Rainy Lake.

“Self publishing has been an amazing learning curve,” she said of the experience she began just this September. “I’ve loved this process, it has been so satisfying. I’m a one-person publishing company with great helper collaborators, and that tickles me.”

She added now that people are looking at the book, more gratification comes from her efforts. “Not one person hasn’t loved it.”

The book describes that loss can come in many different ways. Loss can be saying goodbye to a favorite teacher, it can be when parents divorce, or it can be a pet or family member dying. Warren-Severson said hearts can be broken and mended for many, many reasons.

The author concluded that she looks forward to more feedback on the book and hopes to see mended hearts that have helped people through a difficult grieving process. As written in her book, Warren-Severson told her readers, “With every goodbye, comes another hello and I truly believe that.”

The book kit will be available for $17.95 at City Drug, www.karenwarrenseverson.com, and www.amazon.com.