About Timbi Talks
Our Mission
Timbi Talks Corp is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to preventing the long-term impacts of childhood adversity through connection, regulation, and healing.
We create evidence-informed stories and tools that help children and families build resilience in the face of parental substance use — strengthening the protective factors that reduce lifelong risk.
Our approach is grounded in neuroscience and guided by the principles of Polyvagal Theory, trauma-informed care, and Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs). These frameworks show how safety, connection, and co-regulation can literally rewire the brain toward wellness.
Why Prevention Matters
Prevention begins long before a child faces risk. It begins in everyday moments of connection that teach the brain and body what safety feels like.
Early connection and co-regulation literally shape how a child’s nervous system responds to stress. When children experience safety, comfort, and consistent care, their brains learn calm and curiosity instead of fear and defense.
That’s why prevention isn’t only about stopping harm — it’s about nurturing what's healthy and protective. By helping children feel safe, seen, and soothed, we can reduce the risk of addiction, anxiety, and trauma-related challenges later in life.
At Timbi Talks, we use the science of Polyvagal Theory, Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs), and neuroplasticity to translate that understanding into practice — creating resources that build safety, resilience, and hope — one child, one story, and one caring adult at a time.
What We Do
At Timbi Talks, we turn research into tools children can hold, and science into language they can understand.
From storybooks and plush companions to training guides for caregivers, everything we create builds safety, connection, and regulation — the building blocks of prevention.
We:
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Develop Educational Tools: Storybooks, activity books, and plush companions that teach emotional awareness and coping.
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Support Caregivers & Clinicians: Free guides and science summaries that translate neuroscience into everyday strategies.
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Promote Prevention: Collaborations with educators, child advocacy centers, and prevention networks nationwide.​​​​
Our Story
The Timbi Talks books were written by sisters Trish Healy Luna and Janet Healy Hellier between 2014 and 2019.
Timbi Talks About Addiction came from a story Trish wrote in the late 1980s for her young children as they struggled to cope with their father’s substance use.
Years later, the project evolved into a collaboration that combined lived experience with Janet’s professional background in counseling, child development, and the science of neuroplasticity.
Drawing on her graduate work in the then-emerging field of positive psychology, Janet developed the practical strategies and language that make Timbi both hopeful and evidence-based.
Together, they transformed that early story into a science-based, trauma-informed resource designed to help children and families understand addiction, strengthen emotional regulation, and foster prevention through connection and healing.
Artist, Mackenzie Mitchell, was able to translate the challenging concepts into full color and perfectly deliver the nuanced expressions that the story needed. And Timbi was born!
