There’s something deceptively simple about a blank page. It asks for honesty, but it also asks for time, something most parents don’t have enough of. Katherine Ibarra’s From My Heart to Yours: A Parent’s Memory Journal for Their Children makes that process feel not only possible but deeply meaningful.
As a therapist, Ibarra understands how memory and storytelling shape identity. Her prompts don’t just ask parents to recall events; they invite emotional reflection: the why behind the memory. Questions about childhood, values, and family traditions are written with a therapist’s intuition, open-ended enough to invite depth, yet structured enough to help even the most hesitant writer find their voice.
There is also profound therapeutic value in this kind of writing. Research consistently shows that reflective journaling supports emotional regulation, strengthens memory integration, and deepens empathy, both toward oneself and others. From My Heart to Yours channels those benefits in a deeply personal way, encouraging parents to slow down, notice the emotional threads within their own stories, and communicate love and perspective that might otherwise go unspoken.
What stands out most is the tone. It’s not sentimental or prescriptive. Instead, it gently guides readers toward self-reflection without judgment. The design is elegant but understated, allowing the real content, the family stories themselves, to take center stage.
In a season when so much of what we give is fleeting, From My Heart to Yours offers something lasting: the opportunity to turn reflection into relationship. It’s a book best experienced slowly, perhaps with a cup of tea and the quiet intention to leave something honest and enduring behind.
About the Author
Katherine Ibarra, LCSW, is a Licensed Clinical Therapist with the NY Mental Health Center, specializing in family connection and emotional well-being. Her work blends clinical insight with warmth and empathy, qualities that shine through every page of From My Heart to Yours: A Parent’s Memory Journal for Their Children.
She is also the author of the book and audiobook 5 Categories of Self Care: The Ultimate Guide to Finding Self Love and Happiness, as well as The Evolution of Single Life to Life Partnership: Discover Clinical Practice Techniques to Maintain the Spark or Rekindle Flames.