Author: Gouri Salvi | Apr 20, 2017
When I first met 7 year old Kriti, she would only speak to me in whispers and would hardly look at me when we spoke. She build this giant cocoon around her and everyone seemed to be a gigantic threat to her fragile sense of self.
I met Kriti’s parents before her assessments and they informed me of their previous marital difficulties which they managed worked on and things now were going well. They had observed however, that it was since that time, Kriti became withdrawn, did not make close friends in school or outside, became increasingly diffident , inhibited and was doing poorly in her studies.
As Kriti and I began working together in regular once-a-week psychotherapy sessions (initially through her drawings and play), I could begin to understand that in her child’s mind, her perceptions of her parents’ marital problems had taken on enormous, unrealistic proportions. The experience left her confused and very, very frightened. For 4 months, Kriti expressed what she was going through only with the help of many drawings. Slowly I began to interpret her drawings to her (based on my understanding of what they meant) and when Kriti started to feel that I was trying to understand her, her trust in me began increasing. She gradually moved to using the doll house in the picture to tell me the stories of her inner fears and confusions.
We eventually reached a stage when she started to open up much more. The safe environment of the therapy room encouraged Kriti to talk to me. Her parents also reported that things were improving at home and in school. Kriti now began participating more in classroom activities as well as in games with her friends. Whereas earlier she used to be lost in a world of her own, she became more curious about things happening around her.
Kriti has a way to go before she blossoms to her fullest potential. However, when there is a feeling of cooperative understanding between children, their parents/family and the therapist (as is happening in Kriti’s case) things begin to move ahead and the light at the end of the tunnel becomes clearly visible!