That’s when the idea hit me. After all of my classes for the week I ran to the four-story library. I
looked all weekend. Just before I was about to give up I found what I was looking for. Family files.
I found the Mac file and looked in it. It was there! I raced back to Lucy who was talking to herself
that she was the only one left in her family. I showed her the paper I got out. Her face lit up. I found
a sheet of paper and on it had a photo and some writing. The writing said Nicholas Mac, archaeol-
ogist, based in Arizona, and a phone number.
I had another great idea. I jumped on the phone and rang the number on the paper. I chatted
for an hour or so. When I got off I had a grin on my face. I told Lucy that I had arranged for her to
stay with her cousin, Nicholas, in Arizona for three weeks. She hugged all the air out of me. Two
days later she left for Arizona.
When she returned she was smiling. I hadn’t seen her smile since her parents died 4 months ago.
She told me that she had sooooo much fun and she owed it all to me. Whenever she was on holidays
she would be going to stay with Nicholas.
She never thought that she was the only one in her family ever again. In fact, she knew more
family members now than before her parents died. She keeps a photo of her, Nicholas, and all of her
relatives on our dressing table. I don’t mind as it means a lot to her and it is important to her—just as
much as I am.
226 Healing Stories, Teaching Stories
EXERCISE 13.1
In the next therapy session in which you consider metaphor is appropriate:
■ Experiment with involving the child in the healing story.
■ Listen to the metaphors they use to describe the problem and start to build your out-
come story around their metaphors.
■ Ask them to join in the storytelling, helping the character to find a solution.
■ Set homework exercises for them to write out a healing story and bring it back to the
next session.