Adam, aged 14

Adam, was referred for anger management and for difficulties emerging for him following the sudden death (suicide) of close family member.

On his first session Adam said that he found it impossible to talk to people about his feelings.

 

He was able to stay in the room and begin to do a scaled profile of how he felt about different aspects of school and home life. He circled numbers on the scale representing how he felt which was much easier for him than talking about it. During this session it became clear that he enjoyed art, so I gave him an art journal that he could take home and bring back to each session.

 

On his second session Adam brought back the art journal. He had spent time drawing in it and illustrating inspirational quotes which pointed to his dreams and values. He was able to talk about these.

In subsequent sessions Adam has been able to explore his issues further. A suicide in the family had, in his words, destroyed his family. He was left feeling isolated and anxious about the well-being of the rest of his family. He expressed a wish to be able to talk to his mum.

 

Using solution focused methods we have begun looking at the many strengths already existent in his family both when they are at their best and during this crisis. We have begun also looking at his relationship with his mother, building a picture of how he would like it to be and helping him work towards it.

 

In future sessions we will work on understanding and managing his anger, which has become an increasing problem for him in school as well as helping him with feelings of anxiety. We have also talked about creating a memory box for the family member who committed suicide which will give Adam a chance to process the many conflicting feelings that he has around this death