When 6 year-old Amber first came to WYS, she was struggling. Recurring nightmares led to difficulty sleeping, her eating habits had changed, and she was suddenly sensitive to loud noises. All of this led to a change in her personality that was expressed with aggressive behavior, irritability, and “tantrums” at school and at home.
Amber received individual and family therapy. During this time, Amber had several traumatic experiences. Her pet bunny rabbit passed away which sparked a frightening preoccupation with death; and sadly, her parents separated during treatment. Due to the marital conflict, she had difficulty communicating her feelings of pain, she became withdrawn and her outbursts increased at home and in school. She simply didn’t know how to open-up and share her feelings. The clinician working with her family recommended additional family therapy sessions that were focused on working with her parents. Together they learned how to help Amber express herself and how to remain calm.
We are happy to share that Amber has successfully completed treatment. Her parents indicated that she is no longer experiencing outbursts, nightmares, preoccupation with death, or communication issues. If a behavioral problem arises, her parents know how to calmly redirect her behavior.
The result that really touches us is that she has begun to be aware of the emotions of other people and tries to understand why people feel the way they do. Perhaps we have inspired a future mental health professional…
