how it all began
Hello and welcome.
I’m Dr Emmie - psychologist, mum of three girls and the creator of Hero Cards®. When I was working in the UK health service, I met lots of adults struggling with mental health — often because of unhelpful thinking and coping habits they’d learned as kids. My job was to help them learn alternative strategies to help build their emotional strength. Time and again, they’d say Why didn’t anyone teach me this sooner?
I thought the same thing. Kids can learn these skills early, but outside therapy, they usually don’t. I wanted to fix that.
what drives us
Teaching children about how thoughts and what we do affects how we feel emotionally is key for their wellbeing. The good news is we can learn how to think and cope in ways that make us feel better about ourselves and the world. That’s how Hero Cards® was born.
With the help of teachers and other experts, we've created something that’s as fun as it is effective. Based on science, adapted for young minds. Despite the name, this isn't about superheroes being able to fly or become invisible (although that would be fun!). This is about children becoming their own best hero - with superpowers that are not just a thing of fantasy but really work.
As a mum, I wanted my daughters and other children to grow up understanding their feelings, being able to overcome negative or unhelpful thinking and know they’re strong enough to handle life’s tricky bits because they have a toolkit of skills to draw on.
Children’s brains are incredible at learning, so it’s best to start early rather than wait for challenges to appear. When learning is simple, playful, and visual, it sticks - and that’s exactly what we set out to create.
Learning That Grows with Your Child
The great thing is that Hero Cards have no expiry date - we set out to create something designed to build coping skills for life. Some younger children may find a few of the more advanced Superpowers easier to use later on as they grow and their thinking skills develop. That’s completely normal. Children can enjoy the stories and simpler tools now, and return to the deeper Superpowers later, whenever they’re ready.
