JCNT - May 2025 Release - Full Release - Flipbook - Page 53
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of the park and the monument there, as well as all the cool lizards he9d seen,
particularly one that was green, blue, and yellow.
Throughout the rest of the session, we spent time on more stories about The Boy
Who Acted Out of Heart. Shadow and his parents talked about him making friends
at math tutoring and being sweet with his cousins. They shared how things were
different at home and how other people in their lives had commented on the
changes they had witnessed in Shadow.
Next steps
Before I could begin the therapeutic document for this session, I had some other
interviews to do. Throughout our work together, I had spent many sessions
discussing Shadow9s changes with him and his parents. In these interviews, they
mentioned comments from many other important adults in Shadow9s life, even
the staff on lunch duty, who commented on his leadership abilities. In particular, I
heard a lot about his 4th-grade teacher, who had been a witness to all of the
changes I had been hearing about in our many months together.
I was able to experience some of these comments firsthand when, a few months
into our work together, Shadow joined the art group at our office. After a rocky
first session, the clinicians who ran the group started telling me about the
changes they saw in him. Over and over, they caught me in passing moments,
excited to tell me new stories. They shared how Shadow would jump in to help
other group members, without being asked, as well as how he showed kindness
and empathy, especially to those younger than himself. I was moved by these
stories and quickly realized that, as much as I loved hearing them, it was more
important that Shadow heard these stories.
I wanted to make sure that the stories held by these witnesses would not be lost,
that Shadow would have a way to stay connected with them, even after leaving
therapy and moving on to the next grade. I refined the questions I had prepared
for the interview with Shadow9s parents and set up interviews with Shadow9s
group leaders and teacher to create an archive of these stories. The questions
took the form of the following interview framework, which I began to refer to as
Shadow9s
