TESTIMONIALS
From Individuals
“I was abandoned as a child and felt that I must not be worth much if I could be abandoned. So I lived my life, not caring whether I lived or died. I surrounded myself with people who felt as I did and I let bad things happen. However, I went for help and it was through that help that I found Onionhead. I now realize that all this anger I thought I felt was really sadness and grief. Through Onionhead Cards and Dictionary, I learned how to channel my feelings appropriately. As a result, my life has changed completely. I am surrounded by good people who do good things. Actually, I found out that my passion is to rescue abandoned animals, which I now do. Thank you, Onionhead, for helping me to get to know myself and turning my life around.” ~ N.H.
“I have felt suicidal most of my life and I am near 60. I am a very sensitive person and I found this world just too difficult. However, ten years ago, I found a higher power within myself. I then knew that I am in this world to change and transform it. Now problems just seem like opportunities to help myself or another. I view everything from a different perspective. I want to thank you for the Universal Truth Cards. I do them every day and they help me to realize my purpose on a day to day basis. Now my life has so much meaning. With gratitude.” ~ B.B.
“After 45 years of alcohol abuse I went into treatment at the Meadows. This institution did its job in breaking my addiction - clean and sober for 7 years, but it has been a real struggle to come alive again. Onionhead has really helped me to access my heart and cope with everyday problems as they arise. I do various exercises with Onionhead daily and recommend this wonderful character for people of all ages. This world is experiencing an emotional depression of epic proportions. The appearance of Onionhead at this moment in time is truly providential. Thank you for your wonderful work and helping to change my life.” ~ J.C., Philadelphia
“Before my addiction, I was a ball of pain. After my addiction, I was a ball of shame. Thank you Onionhead for helping me see that I am neither. I now know I am more than both and the Universal Truth cards help me to stay connected to my Higher Power. You guys are great.” ~ Rich, Miami
“My husband comes from an abusive, non-communicative family. He is a good person but he had no idea what feelings were. I got the deck of Onionhead cards and every day we make it a ritual to sit down and pick 6 cards each. We then discuss what they mean to us. We never let a day go by without doing this. It has taught us how to discover not only each other, but ourselves as well. Intimacy with friendship is, in my opinion, the most important factor to a successful, loving relationship. Again, thank you from both of our hearts.” ~ Couple from Canada
"My wife and I have been using both the Onionhead deck of cards and dictionary for adults every morning. We made these tools a part of our morning ritual… breakfast, workout and Onionhead! We had been married for eight years when we committed to exploring our feelings every day. What we discovered was astounding. First, we had not truly developed a language to find or share our feelings. Over a three month period of time, we gained a common language. Second, we discovered that we had to work on ourselves first to work on our relationship. We each draw our own cards individually and then keep each other honest with discovering why any particular Onionhead card was drawn. Third, by helping each other peel away layers of feelings we have learned more about our relationship than any time before. Together, we continue to work to reach a more authentic relationship. Thank you Onionhead for helping." ~ Arthur, California
From Parents
"My son and I snuggle up at bedtime and pick 5 or 6 emotions to read about and talk about our day. We also try to name an emotion (he is 4) that he felt during the day and then we read about that. It is relatively new so we have not gone through all of them yet but we love what we have read about." ~ Stacey, Ontario
"Upon my second marriage, I had two teenage boys and then became a stepmother to two teenage girls. The other day they were shouting and arguing and I heard my eldest son shout "Get the Onionhead deck" I couldn't believe my ears. They got out the deck, spread the cards on the floor and each chose a card that represented what they were feeling. Then they each picked a card showing how they wanted to feel, and discussed how to get there. It was so peaceful. No one was blamed for anything. What could have escalated into an out-of-control situation became an opportunity to be heard, validated and self-empowered. Thank you Onionhead." ~ J.E.G. Maryland
"When my daughter was 5, my ex-husband kidnapped her. During that time, he told many lies about me as to why he took her. Five years later, I finally I found her. She was confused, hurt and full of disillusionment. I was scared, lost and devastated. The years that followed were filled with anger, abandonment issues, fears, mistrust and a whole lot of acting-out. If I had known how to address her feelings and had the tools to help access them (and mine), our healing would have begun much sooner. I would not have experienced many years of frustration and guilt at feeling so helpless.
Two years ago we started to use Onionhead. He has brought us closer. We now feel more secure because he has allowed us to face the truth without feeling threatened. He has given us both the opportunity to re-connect in a loving, honest way. We now share our feelings without blaming anyone.
I am deeply grateful to you that Onionhead came into our lives to help us mend our deep wounds and re-establish the bond that we both thought was lost forever." ~ L.K., parent Red Bank, N.J.
"Onionhead has been a great tool that I have been using with my son who is PDD as well as his younger twin brothers. We have the alphabet display boards in their rooms as their border and we have the peace flags hanging as well. Just having that around makes a big difference. It shows all the boys that there is more than happy and sad and it begins to teach them a much bigger range of emotions.
Even before they were reading they learned all the words and using the cards and dictionary each night became our ritual. After our nightly books we each pick 2 cards from the deck at random. When they were very small they would make the face that Onionhead makes, then either they or I would read the word and we’d go to the dictionary for the definition and read the short story there. Then, we each use the cards we picked to tell something about our day.
The kids of course do not like to pick the heavy emotions and always laugh, put it back into the pile and pick again. Since the usual responses when they come home from school is that they did nothing and can’t remember anything, using the cards to start communication amongst us all is great and allowed me to know how they were feeling. This gives me tremendous insight that is invaluable for a parent to have. Once you know how they feel you can work with them, help them and provide them tools for how to deal with that feeling but the hard part is finding out and Onionhead does that for you.
The tools have made a tremendous difference in our lives and in our relationship and I am forever grateful. I couldn’t imagine a night without Onionhead and if I do forget the boys quickly remind me, they love it as much as I do. It is a great bonding experience and you’ll be surprised that you’ll find some insight to your own feelings as well, an added bonus!" ~ Tracy, NY
“I am a single parent of two daughters ages 15 and 12. Life can get hectic at times so to find time for us all to be together is sometimes challenging. A couple of nights ago I decided that as a family we were going to use our deck of 150 cards and the dictionary a little differently. We spread out every card face up and each picked three. We all shared with each other what we thought about our choices. Then my girls kept saying I see another card and another and another they wanted to choose, and they did! It was such an amazing experience for us… it was an opening and gave me so much more insight into what is a confusing time in life; the dreaded teenage years! After that we used our Universal Truths cards and each picked one and read the Positive Thought on it. That too was a nice way to finish off the evening. My card was nurturing which was exactly what I was doing with my girls. They saw it differently however, they said ok Mom nurture us and make us chocolate chip cookies!! And I did! What a great night with my kids, Thank You Onionhead.” ~ Stacey S., NY
From Teachers
"Recently one of my students with high functioning autism looked at the Onionhead poster and said 'Frustrated. . . that's me at recess.' We had a great discussion regarding his frustration on the playground with the other students and positive ways to handle the challenges and to feel calm instead of frustrated. Another success was a fifth grader who was having an emotional meltdown in the classroom. The student was able to come to my room and verbalize how he felt picked on by everyone at school and he was able to verbalize situations that happened that day as well as in the past. I asked him how he wanted to feel. The student looked at the magnet board and responded 'Victorious.' He was able to come up with ways to feel and act in a victorious manner. We printed out a card with 'victorious' written on it to take with him. He kept that card taped to his desk for the entire year. The teacher was very pleased how in a very short period of time the student's day was transformed and he had a powerful word/feeling he could use throughout the school year." ~ Lisa Usher Layton, M.S. CCC Speech-Language Pathologist
"Thank you so much for taking the time to bring Onionhead to our elementary school. I am so excited about the possibilities for uses within the classroom that I will be bringing Onionhead to the Rudolph Stiener College this summer for other teachers to experience. I have used Onionhead individually and in small groups with grade levels 1 through 8 with much success. I find that Onionhead® is an excellent tool for all students, including special ed and gifted student. This product creates openings for conversation in a non threatening manner, and provides an opportunity for students to look at themselves and others in a responsible, non-judgmental way... Thank you again for your creative, inspiring tools for children." ~ Marilyn Berger. MEd.
"I bought this for school teachers. Perfect thing to get younger kids to share their feelings!" ~ Valerie, Boston
"My case manager has already used the Universal Truth Cards with some of the students she works with and they loved them! Thanks for all the thought you put into this product!" ~ Marilyn Horan, Montessori School Principal
From Therapists
"I use Onionhead with all my clients. It has been the greatest tool I have ever used. People get to know themselves, by themselves. This, in itself is completely empowering. Onionhead® has made my work much easier because we get to the root of the problem immediately. We use the Universal Truth cards as a way to get to the solutions and that has proven to be completely effective. I love you people... you have given much thought to what you do." ~ Mary Jorck, counselor
"We thought the Onionhead A-Z Magnets would be a good fit with the professional development we do. We are delighted with the magnets and are using them at an event site. They are ideal for stressful situations and great conversation starters!" ~ Lindsay, non-profit organization
"I recently took the set of Onionhead cards to an emotional support classroom. Not only did the children LOVE the opportunity to share their feelings but so did the adults...” ~ Jacqueline, MFCC
"I used my Onionhead cards in session today with a very guarded young lady whose comment to everything is 'I don't know.' I asked her to sort through the cards and pick out any that applied to her. After only three sessions using Onionhead®, she turned to me and said: 'Now do you want to know why I feel this way?' Thank you so much. These tools are wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!!!" ~ Donna Polk, MFCC
"I have found Onionhead to be an endearing character who children respond to well. They participate in the activities, while learning to understand and communicate their feelings. This functions on several levels. At a nonverbal level, Onionhead's expressive gestures and facial expressions mirror the feeling states that children experience in themselves and pick up from the people around them. The activities give them the opportunity to identify and express these nonverbal aspects of language which is an important part of communication that is frequently overlooked.
The activities go on to build a vocabulary for identifying and labeling the many feelings that all children experience both within themselves and around them. I have been used to teaching only the basic emotions - 'happy, sad, mad', but found that even young children of 3 and 4 were familiar with a much larger range of emotions than I had been focusing on. The activities then provide the opportunity to fully express their feelings, to relate these feelings to the experiences from which they arise, to understand that feelings change and how they can begin to do so. This develops both pragmatic and syntactic language skills at the same time as developing emotional intelligence.
I have found this to be a powerful tool for teaching these important skills to preschool children with difficulties in the area of speech and language and can see the potential for using this with children of all ages and the adults with whom they interact." ~ Ariella Shira Lewis, Speech and Language Pathologist, Preschool Speech and Language Program
