101 Healing Stories for Kids and Teens

Now a whole bunch of kids are pretty proud of that patch, and they sure aren’t going to let any
other kids—or adults—mess it up. They water the roses regularly, they’ve planted fresh flowers, and
one of the other kids’ dads gave them an old swing that they painted and set up on the patch. They
walk through the patch while waiting for their next bus, gather any rubbish, pull out a weed or two,
and have a swing. In fact, sometimes when you pass you may even see an adult swinging among the
roses.
One Monday, however, as he rode the bus to school, Pete was in for a surprise. He looked, as
usual, toward the patch. Something had changed. There was a sign on it. His friends had painted it.
It read: Pete’s Patch.

STORY 79

TAKING CONTROL

Therapeutic Characteristics

Problems Addressed

■ Habit patterns

■ Unwanted behaviors

■ Lack of control

■ Lack of empowerment

Resources Developed

■ Taking control

■ Learning thought-/behavior-stopping techniques

■ Learning to create desired alternatives

■ Learning to extend skills

■ Building personal empowerment

Outcomes Offered

■ Habit control
■ Broader behavioral repertoire
■ Empowerment
Natalie had a habit. It doesn’t matter what sort of habit it was because I guess we all get into habits
of different types. Some bite their finger nails, eat too much junk food, don’t eat enough, pick their
noses in public, burp at the dinner table, or do other things that other people may not like. So you
can imagine any sort of habit you might want for Natalie. Is wasn’t so much what the habit was but
rather what happened that was more important.
I asked Natalie what she wanted to be when she was an adult. She didn’t need any time to think.
Her reply came quickly: “A policewoman. I want to ride on one of those big white horses like po-
licewomen do.”
“And what will you do as a policewoman riding on a big white horse?” I asked.

PROBLEM-SOLVING

Building Problem-Solving Skills 187