The clinical and research work at the Home Within the Heart Center is grounded in the Reflective Playfulness model (RPP; Enav & Mayer, 2026), an innovative, research-based intervention and therapeutic model designed to strengthen the relationship between children and the significant adults in their lives through playfulness, mentalization, attuned presence, and mutual emotional regulation.
The model draws on knowledge from the fields of attachment, resilience and self-efficacy, mentalization, and play therapy, while integrating principles of mind–body presence and dyadic work. These principles are translated into experiential sessions that combine play, creative activities, movement, and conversation, with the aim of strengthening relationships, encouraging emotional expression and processing, and helping parents and children recognize and draw on their own strengths.

Home Within the Heart programs include both focused and process-oriented interventions tailored to different populations, communities, and needs. The work with parents and children takes place in a dyadic format within a small-group setting, with the parent–child relationship at the heart of building resilience and fostering change.

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The Narrative Framework
Home Within the Heart programs incorporate a therapeutic narrative framework tailored to the developmental world of young children. Through storytelling, play, and imagination, parents and children are invited to explore themes of change, fear, coping, discovering strengths, and resilience in a playful space and from a safe emotional distance.
Throughout the journey, children and parents encounter challenges, identify inner strengths, and strengthen their sense of competence, meaning, and agency.

Applying the Model
The model’s principles are also applied in professional training for education and care teams and in AI-based simulations, enabling parents and educators to practice and integrate these principles into everyday life as well as during times of crisis.