In the tent by himself, Beck’s hands were too frozen to allow him to open a water bottle and
have a drink. The blizzard blew the tent flaps open and tore the sleeping bags from his body. His arms
were swollen and his wristwatch was cutting off the blood flow to his hand. Being a doctor, he knew
that meant he could lose his hand—so he tried to chew through the watchband. He screamed, help-
lessly, for the exhausted rescuers couldn’t hear him over the howling blizzard.
In the morning when Beck stood and even began to walk his rescuers could hardly believe it,
but still no one thought he would survive. They were 26,000 feet up the highest mountain in the
world. There was a long, tortuous descent ahead—tough for even the fittest.
On the rescue was a famous mountaineer and mountain photographer, David Breashears, who
personally helped Beck. Beck’s arms were frozen as stiff as poles, he had limited sight and strength,
and his face was so frostbitten that he would later have to have his nose amputated, along with his
hands. Being a doctor he must have known this, but he remained hopeful, saying at one point, “I’m
gonna lose my hands, but I might just see my wife and kids again.”
David Breashears later wrote a book entitled High Exposure, in which he said he kept expecting
Beck to complain—but he never did. In fact, even after having been written off for dead so many
times, knowing that he could lose his arms and never be able to work as a doctor again, Beck Weath-
ers was cracking jokes.
Climbing Mt. Everest is a costly exercise—probably about the same as buying a small apartment
or a couple of cars. As David virtually carried Beck down the mountain on his own back, Beck
laughed that before leaving home he’d said to his wife, “This is costing me an arm and a leg,” and
then, knowing that he would lose his arms, added, “but I guess I bargained them down.”
What interests me is just how people facing such tough times and difficult situations survive and
are able to get on with their lives. I find Dr. Beck Weathers an inspiration and I guess this is part of
the reason that I love reading about mountains and the adventures of mountaineers, particularly what
they do when faced with such difficult times.
STORY 73
COLLABORATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVINGTherapeutic Characteristics
This story has different characteristics from most of the others and is best considered as a matching metaphor. It is
designed to match the child listener in age, gender, and experiences as well as the problem (in this case, insomnia).
An outcome is not specifically offered, although it is implied: to sleep restfully again in the child’s own room. The
resources, or means for getting to the outcome, are not specified, though it is implied the child has knowledge based
on his own experiences. I present this story as a way of eliciting the resources and outcome from the child through
collaborative storytelling: The therapist sets up the problem and seeks to engage the child in a process that will lead
to a successful outcome. This process is discussed further in Chapter 16.
You know, as you were telling me the troubles you have been experiencing with sleeping I was
quite amazed because I have been seeing another guy about your age who has very similar problems.
Now, my guess is that there are probably a lot of things you have tried already. Some may have
PROBLEM-SOLVINGBuilding Problem-Solving Skills 177