My Nonprofit Reviews

2 years ago, I met a 5 year old boy and began treatment due to a trauma history and the current challenges at the time was severe dysregulation that took on the form of aggression towards parents and tearing rooms a part. This boy had been removed from his mother due to her addictions to substances, and then was passed around to various family members before finally landing at paternal grandparents. While being in various family homes, the boy then experienced physical abuse. By the time the boy had begun therapy, he had a tremendous compounding of self-hate, attributing all of his past experiences to the belief “I’m not lovable” and on many occasions would verbalize to me, “If I was good then my family wouldn’t pass me on.” The boy would frequently have severe tantrums and then ask if his caregivers were going to kick him out of the house. Luckily, the caregiver’s saw through the behaviors to see how their grandson was attempting to re-create the belief that no one would like him because of the belief that he was unlovable. This boy in particular, highly enjoyed play therapy, and benefitted greatly from having a safe haven in which to play and (unknowingly) play out emotional themes of trauma. The boy chose my toy bird, that he called “Chirpy” and often played out scenes from his abuse with “Chirpy” and after the play sequence ended, the boy went back to playing as a typical 5-year old. That was the first year of treatment, and in that time the behaviors had decreased significantly, however, there still was exhibited anxiety and challenges in the dynamic the boy was having with grandparents. I then worked with the boy and caregivers in parent-child interactive therapy to continue to support the boy’s ability to decrease the anxiety typically connected with his outbursts. The boy turned 7 this month, and in his last two months of treatment, had met his goals and his behaviors had decreased to the point that he now is able to use coping skills to deal with feelings of stress and frustration, is able to verbalize his wants and feelings to adults, and no longer tantrums. This boy highly benefitted from treatment, and was able to utilize a full two years of weekly therapy. My favorite part about this boy specifically is how differently and more positively he now views himself.