Media

and Press

our story

We are so honored to share space with you today. Thank you for taking the time to learn more about our story, our business and our passion.

Here you will find our corporate information, author-specific materials, press releases, sell and tip sheets and further contact information. Please reach out if you have any questions; we are very excited to connect with you soon.

ccm & JMM Wellness llc

Christine Corrigan Mendez, M.ed., LPC, NCC and Jen monika mccurdy, M.ed., lpc

About CCM & JMM Wellness LLC

CCM & JMM Wellness LLC is a female-inspired partnership using therapeutic tools and creative design to advocate for optimal mental health and wellness. The headquarters is located in St. Louis, Missouri, and reaches throughout the world, led by Christine Corrigan Mendez and Jen Monika McCurdy.

Together, Christine and Jen have nearly 20 years of private counseling practice experience, and their combined platforms exceed 55K connections, globally. They’ve shared quite the journey beginning as classmates, evolving into like-minded colleagues, and are now incredibly grateful to be lifelong friends and business partners. Through CCM & JMM Wellness LLC, Christine and Jen combine their counseling, personal and entrepreneurial experiences. Their collaboration has resulted in the creation of innovative and empowering mental health resources like the book, Clementine Gets UNSTUCK! and the Kids Can Club™ digital program. And the production of additional books and expansion of the Club program are in progress!

Learn more about CCM & JMM Wellness LLC at www.ccmjmmwellness.com.

Nine PBS Living St. Louis

Watch Christine and Jen on 9 PBS Living St. Louis Learn how their book, CLEMENTINE GETS UNSTUCK! and the Kids Can Club™ program support kids mental health.

CCM & JMM Wellness LLC
Mailing Address:

222 S Meramec Ave, Suite 202-1029
St. Louis, MO 63105 USA

Events

November 12, 2022

Kids/Young Adult Author Event at Barnes & Noble, Ladue

We were so honored to be a part of Barnes & Noble’s (Ladue, MO location) book signing event. Sharing Clementine and the kids of the Kids Can Club™ is pure joy. We spent the afternoon meeting so many sweet friends of our St. Louis community, and we look forward to more events where we can meet you, too!

Where is Clementine?

Clementine loves an adventure! Check out some of the fun places she and her friends have visited lately:

In the News

Ladue News, October 7, 2022

St. Louis counselors’ book for kids teaches mental wellness techniques and compassion for others

Connie Mitchell

Licensed professional counselor Christine Corrigan Mendez realized mid-pandemic that families and children were struggling with educational, social and day-to-day needs.

UMSL Daily, September 12, 2022

Two UMSL counseling alumnae launch book series to help children work through emotional challenges

Heather Riske

With a new children’s book series, two local counselors aim to empower and engage kids facing difficult emotional challenges.

St. Louis Magazine, July 25, 2022

St. Louis Counselors Launch Children’s Book Series to Promote Mental Health

Gaby Mendoza

Clementine Gets UNSTUCK! explores the life of a neurodivergent third-grader who is eager to help others like her.

Reviews

Reviewed by Asher Syed:

Clementine Gets Unstuck! Kids Can Club™ Collection (1) is written by Christine Corrigan Mendez M.Ed. LPC NCC, and Jen Monika McCurdy M.Ed. LPC, and illustrated by Dana Regan. This children’s book is intended to offer guidance and coping skills to neurodivergent children and their adult caregivers. The story begins with a bright little girl named Clementine waking up happy and ready to start her day. Her morning routine is quickly interrupted when the burden of thoughts and ideas that spring up in her active mind becomes convoluted and confusing. Clementine finds it impossible to focus on one thought and, as a result, struggles with things like deciding what to wear and voicing ideas for what she and her friends can do on the weekend. When Clementine’s teacher introduces the class to controlled breathing techniques, Clementine’s ideas become untangled, and she is unstuck.

I am happy to live in a day and age where the struggles of our children’s health and wellness are addressed openly, compassionately, and in the spirit of meaningful support. Clementine Gets Unstuck! is a perfect example of guidance that is child and adult friendly and easy to implement. Christine Corrigan Mendez and Jen Monika McCurdy have produced a narrative that is as concise as it is accessible. Proof of the success this book might have with readers is how Clementine’s newly discovered breathing techniques did help one of my little thinkers. Of course, there is no great children’s book without a great children’s illustrator, and the prolific and highly respected Dana Regan breathes life into Clementine with artistry that blends realism and animation-style illustrations with a bold, primary color palette. Between Mendez, McCurdy, and Regan, the world of kid-lit has another dream team trio. Highly recommended.

Reviewed By Erin Nicole Cochran:

Clementine Gets Unstuck! Kids Can Club Collection (1) by Christine Corrigan Mendez M.Ed., LPC, NCC, and Jen Monika McCurdy M.Ed., LPC, is a children’s picture book about a little girl named Clementine who gets a bit overwhelmed by all the thoughts that she has going on in her mind at the same time. The illustrations created by Dana Regan are colorful and cheerful while still perfectly encapsulating the myriad thoughts that are continually flying at Clementine as she tries to make sense of them. In particular, the pages that display the jumble of colors are impactful. Providing a physical form makes it easier for parents to see the problem as it is. The characters have expressive features that make you feel for them when they find themselves in stressful situations.

Christine Corrigan Mendez and Jen Monika McCurdy have an exceptional and truly educational book on their hands with Clementine Gets Unstuck! As a society that has become more heavily reliant on medication, it was a breath of fresh air to see a different and much safer option available in a children’s book. Not only is it beneficial for children who are experiencing a jumble of thoughts every day, but it’s also a tool that adults will be able to learn from as well. This approach might snowball into other ideas for healthier lifestyles. This would be an amazing book for schools in general as well as places that offer therapy for young children.

Reviewed By Lois Henderson:

Clementine Gets Unstuck! Kids Can Club™ Collection (1) is written by licensed professional educational counselors Christine Corrigan Mendez M.Ed., LPC, NCC, and Jen Monika McCurdy M.Ed., LPC, and is illustrated by Dana Regan. The reader is about a third grader called Clementine, who has so many ideas zinging around her head at the same time that she finds it hard to concentrate on any one thing. She becomes stuck, not knowing what to say or do next. This is the story of how she learns to focus. She calms herself down by breathing deeply through her tummy so that she can untangle her thoughts and ideas. The book ends with a deep breathing exercise that any child can easily follow in their own home.

Christine Corrigan Mendez and Jen Monika McCurdy’s reader Clementine Gets Unstuck! shows in simple, easy-to-read language, just how effective mastery of simple body-based techniques can be in overcoming problems of the mind, even for a relatively young child. The illustrations are generally clear and cheerful, with the interplay between Clementine and her two dogs, as well as her friends, being especially amusing. The portrayal of the exciting evolution that she undergoes captures the spirit of learning, with Clementine becoming a much happier child as she learns how to quieten herself down so that she can concentrate. This would be a valuable work to have in any primary school resource center.

Reedsy
@ReedsyDiscovery @kameronbrook

Loved it! 😍

Belly breathes can work for children and adults, so let’s all sit down and rest our brains together!

Clementine is a third-grader who is a bundle of energy. Aren’t most all?! Clementine has a very active brain, and sometimes, things get jumbled up in it. This causes her sunny disposition to turn dark and cloudy.

When she can’t decide between numerous options, it has a ripple effect, such as almost missing the bus or voicing an idea for a playtime event with her best friends. EEK! She, thankfully, made it safely onto the bus with the assistance of her mom. Unfortunately, she had on two different types of socks on (one knee, one ankle). Double EEK!

When you have an overly active brain, a child might shy away from raising their hand in class. They might spend more time alone on the playground. Sad. Confused. Frustrated.

Clementine Gets UNSTUCK! by Christine Corrigan Mendez and Jen Monika McCurdy teaches kids that belly breathes can help your brain rest, which it needs. Through the help of a school counselor, Ms. Katie will instruct children on how to do belly breathes. The steps are not hard at all! They only need to know how to count to 5, the number of reps suggested by the authors.

While belly breathes might not cure things like ADD or ADHD, it will prove helpful in children who might need an occasional calming down due to frustrations, tantrums or who might be stressed at school and home. Actually, this breathing exercise would work for adults as well.

Belly breathing is basically meditation, which millions of people do daily. Heck, there are apps for taking a few moments to calm your mind.

As I typed up my review, I had no idea what age group the authors intended for the book. As long as your child can sit still longer than a minute, then start teaching the method of belly breathing. As they mature, have them count with you.

The Children's Book Review Bianca Schulze

Clementine has lots of super cool ideas about everything – what to wear to school, where the school field trip should be, and what to do at the weekend. The problem with having lots of ideas is that they can get all tangled up, leaving Clementine feeling stuck and unhappy. Clementine tries and tries to untangle her ideas on her own, but it is just too hard. Then, the school counselor, Ms. Katie, teaches her a fantastic new tool: Belly breaths. With long, slow breaths to cool down her overheating brain, Clementine can finally sort her ideas out and come up with a very cool plan—the Kids Can Club!

Smart, creative kids often struggle to keep their bodies moving at the same pace as their brains, and the result is often frustration, anxiety, or sadness. Clementine Gets UNSTUCK! helps readers learn a simple, proven behavioral therapy technique for calming down, slowing down, and taking control of racing thoughts and ideas. An engaging main character, relatable narrative, vibrant, cheerful illustrations, and visual and textual clues reinforce the belly-breath technique, encouraging readers to understand and try it themselves.

The first in a series to encourage kids to extend their agency from their bodies out into the world by starting a club of their own, Clementine Gets UNSTUCK! is a solid start to what is shaping up to be a fun and empowering series.

Reader Review
Helen Conway-Jensen, LPC

I loved Clementine Gets UNSTUCK! the minute I read it because of its introduction of basic good mental health practices, presented in storybook form. Clementine’s story supports the fact that internal challenges are real and can be addressed by the individual and by seeking outside help. Normalizing this concept is something we stress with a client in beginning therapy. Recognizing one’s internal discomfort and the need for it to be addressed are important first steps. All three, normalizing, recognizing and taking action are appropriately addressed in this book on the level of the young reader. I believe Clementine Gets UNSTUCK! will help readers see themselves in the story and become aware of, accept, and address their problems more effectively at an early age as well as set a healthy pattern for the future.

Reader Review
Nancy Golden, LPC

Clementine Gets UNSTUCK! is a fun read with a serious and helpful message. The book introduces readers to the idea that it is by relaxing and not trying so hard that we are able to find answers. This is difficult learning at any age. I applaud the authors for addressing this concept in a book for young children. How wonderful it will be for them to learn and practice this slowing down now, rather than in adulthood when their patterns are set and harder to change.