Today.. having 8 sessions back to back without so much as a pee break my last session showed me why I do this. I literally lay in bed preparing my mind on my longer days for what ever comes my way. I pray that He words my mouth and gives me wisdom.
Tonight one of my favs (not supposed to say that) comes in and she is heavy. But to approach the topic as many parents want us to do is overwhelming for her. Children do not communicate like adults do, and to bombard them with multiple questions can be harmful to our therapeutic bond. Children need to trust us, if we come with our agenda or yours, we aren’t able to build trust.
Anywho, she opted to play Yahtzee instead (Play Therapy). While playing I was whoopin’ her (no mercy for these kids) she called it the game of life via Yahtzee, She hated making decisions that would lead to her losing. She continued to ask me to help her and I made comments like, “Sometimes you have to make hard decisions and they all wont end well, but you keep playing because you never know how the game will change.” We continued she was unhappy saying, ” I’m going to quit!” I said” What does it look like when you quit.. She gave me a real answer, I said so you’ve already given up? and she said yea. This made me sad and I could see it in her face. Nevertheless we continued. She took a zero on top and my score board was perfect I even got the bonus up top! (she did not like me, she wanted me to give her extra rolls, I did not.)
Then something shifted, I said to her, ” You never know in life what could happen next, you could have another chance, when you continue to play the game while losing you could get mercy.” She was like whaaaa (haha). Do you know she rolled a Yahtzee? Her smile was so bright! That gave her the will to continue playing and making hard decisions. My score sheet was still perfect! I had Yahtzee and Large Straight left and she took another zero. I encouraged her some more, all the while taking a zero in my large straight. This girl got another Yahtzee! where I took another zero. SHE BEAT ME!
While there are so many lessons to be learned, the one I want to talk about is how amazing she felt. What this game a simple game of Yahtzee was worth more than simple conversation. After I asked her to write a letter on the back of the score sheet to herself and keep it! I never intended for the game to be anything but a game, but in her play she displayed her trust issues, how peoples decisions have an affect on her, hopelessness, and more. For this I am thankful, and I made sure to tell her how grateful I was that she continued to play with me even when she was losing.
I am wiping away thug tears, and suddenly 8 hours have vanished and I feel replenished.
Sorry for any spelling or grammatical errors… I really just wanted to write this. I didn’t do the usual editing.
