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Dirce Utrera-Ferragamo with her game AWARE Kids, a card game to help kids recognize healthy and unhealthy behaviors.
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April 28, 2027
Bandera mom creates screen-free card game that encourages positive mental health
By Jessica Nohealapa’ahi
The Bandera Prophet
Armed with the purpose of helping parents empower their children in a society of ever-increasing mental health threats, Bandera County resident Dirce Utrera-Ferragamo has discovered a way to teach navigational skills and resilience through the art of play.
With the help of colleagues, Utrera-Ferragamo, an internationally licensed psychologist currently studying at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center working toward her LPC-Associate designation in Texas, created AWARE, a children’s screen-free card game to help kids recognize red and green flag behaviors, learn practical coping skills, and set boundaries.
“It was created to help children recognize healthy and unhealthy behaviors early, and to give families a simple, engaging way to have important conversations that don’t always come easily,” Utrera-Ferragamo said.
In her experience, many adult mental health challenges stem from two common situations: children from healthy families often lack the skills to identify unhealthy behaviors when they encounter them later in life; and/or children from less‑healthy family environments may normalize unhealthy behaviors and struggle to recognize what positive, healthy behaviors look like.
Perfect for game nights, classrooms and group settings, AWARE helps foster age-appropriate, preventative conversations before potential mental health issues occur, rather than after.
“As a Bandera-based mom and mental health professional in training, this project is very close to my heart,” Utrera-Ferragamo said.
The game has recently launched on Amazon - see more at https://a.co/d/09ulG6md
With the help of colleagues, Utrera-Ferragamo, an internationally licensed psychologist currently studying at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center working toward her LPC-Associate designation in Texas, created AWARE, a children’s screen-free card game to help kids recognize red and green flag behaviors, learn practical coping skills, and set boundaries.
“It was created to help children recognize healthy and unhealthy behaviors early, and to give families a simple, engaging way to have important conversations that don’t always come easily,” Utrera-Ferragamo said.
In her experience, many adult mental health challenges stem from two common situations: children from healthy families often lack the skills to identify unhealthy behaviors when they encounter them later in life; and/or children from less‑healthy family environments may normalize unhealthy behaviors and struggle to recognize what positive, healthy behaviors look like.
Perfect for game nights, classrooms and group settings, AWARE helps foster age-appropriate, preventative conversations before potential mental health issues occur, rather than after.
“As a Bandera-based mom and mental health professional in training, this project is very close to my heart,” Utrera-Ferragamo said.
The game has recently launched on Amazon - see more at https://a.co/d/09ulG6md