Personal Narrative: My Child Therapy Experience

This made me nervous as to how I was going to communicate with her. My mentor stood back in order to allow me to administer the medications and I felt unable to ask the question, “How do I communicate with this patient?”

By the way of introduction, I am Aleem Punja's cousin and he suggested I reach out to you to explore possible opportunities at the Children's Aid Society of Toronto.

Why is externalising a central technique in narrative therapy today, and what are the limitations and successes of this technique?

When narrative therapy first came into my life, I was not able to realize its brilliance. I had the misconception that the modality found where problems stemmed from and then showed clients how to cope with problems when they reoccur. Then I saw narrative therapy in action during a session with clients of my colleagues. The idea of problems being outsiders intruding on the system was fascinating and co-authoring a new narrative with a client sounded fulfilling. When all of a client’s knowledge is considered socially constructed rather than learned, it helps the therapist to see the client and the client’s problems as separate entities. Meaning becomes attributed to these problems through the client’s interactions with their social environment.

As I entered Mrs. Brown’s room I introduce myself, my role and the reason of being there and asked her how she would like me to address to her. Being supervised by the RN I asked for an informed consent prior to commencing a focused holistic assessment and then I asked what would be a good time for me to come back. I did recall from a handover that Mrs. Brown has a Clexane which

“The last thing I heard where the sirens. And the last thing I saw where a kaleidoscope of blue and red. And then everything went black, every ounce of air had escaped my lungs and had reached the surface of the lake in the form of little bubbles.” I told Louis Green, possibly the most boring person on earth. I don’t think he wanted to be my therapist anymore then I wanted to be in therapy.

Maybe I was too little, or maybe I was too short, but either way I did not make the jump. In the second grade I was your average eight year old, who always wore her hair in ponytails, and enjoyed playing tag at recess. One day I saw the fifth graders on the monkey bars at recess doing something I had never seen before, they were jumping to the fourth bar. I waited untill Kids Inc. that day to try the jump, but it was no use I was acting like a scared baby.

“How can I be good again? I just lost my wife and son in a car accident. There's nothing in life that can cheer me up. I have become an alcoholic who is now jobless.” I said. My Therapist, Dr. Newman, told me “Trust me, Mr. Smith. Only time can heal your wounds if you allow it to. Well, that's the end of the session, and I want to recall the accident that occurred so we can talk about it tomorrow.”

I never thought that I'd be writing to you out of all people. Everyone may question my sanity once they figure out I've been trying to write to you ever since you were convicted five years ago. It's just.... I couldn’t find the right words to explain how badly you hurt me. However, my therapist said that writing this letter will help me accept the fact that I made the dumbest mistake in the world seven years ago when we got married. Oh yeah, I'm going to a therapist. I find that quite ironic since one day I thought I could become a therapist, and specialize in women sciences, but instead, I'm going to one.

As I await the therapist in the waiting room, my mind is racing, heart pounding, and palms sweating. I’ve been waiting for three years to meet with him, but of course, Dr. Johnson was completely booked until now. Each night I have been taunted with an atrocious dream and ready for the affliction to cease. Finally, he appears in the doorway and calls my name. Instantaneously, I stand up and shuffle behind the therapist to the cubicle.

Has your world ever been flipped upside down overnight? Well, mine has when my Uncle had a bad stroke that causes him to lose the left side of his brain. This event changed my life forever it was like I was blind to being able to see for the very first time. Those horrible days truly made me rethink my life, and it taught me how precious life is and how quickly life can be taken away. The biggest thing that came out of this was the improvement in my work ethic, giving it my all 100% of the time, and not procrastinating on anything in my life. Having my world flipped upside was probably the greatest thing that could have happened and here's why.

Meet client at the clinic and worked on community outing. Hilario did a great job following instructions given by DI. Hilario enjoyed coloring pictures of horses printed by DI. Hilario need it echoic prompt, directive prompt, indirect verbal and model promot during the session to ask for a break and practice strategies to used when he is upset or frustrated. No tantrums presented during session.

Session held at client's home. DI worked on establishing report. DI and Sofia worked executive function, social and language. During session Sofia need it 7 directive prompt and 1 partial physical prompt. DI and Sofia look at video for potty training. Sofia did a great job following instructions given by DI. Sofia was able to keep small conversations with DI and client's mom. Sofia's mom assisted, participated and facilitated during session.

Like many sixteen-year-olds, my first job was an exciting rite of passage. I had somehow managed to land the job of my dreams, and entered my first day overdressed, undertrained, and ill-prepared. My task seemed easy enough. As an Aftercare Therapist at an autism center, I was to work with clients across the spectrum ages two through twenty one, helping them build social skills and improve peer relations. I had some experience working with people with disabilities, through volunteer positions, Best Buddies, and aiding in the life skills classroom, and so I had a questionably large amount of confidence entering my first shift.

I had been working at Aviator Sports and Events Center for about three years. During those three years, I have been an after school counselor and a summer camp counselor. I have interacted with many different kinds of kids that had behavioral problems, special needs and that don’t have any problems at all. During my second summer working at Aviator, my manager had placed a particular child in my group. This child had Autism. It my first time dealing with a child with this diagnosis. When I found out that this child would be in my group, I wasn’t sure what to expect since I never experienced it before. The first couple of days I became very observant to see how she interacted with other campers during certain activities, with other counselors