David’s journey
David (name changed to preserve anonymity), a 15-year-old boy, commenced therapy during the Autumn of 2023, as he was experiencing difficulties in focusing during lessons at school and having relationship difficulties at home with his brother.
David stated he loved his brother very much, however said it was very difficult to live with him due to his behaviours, having a diagnosis of ASD and acting out aggressively frequently at home. David said it was refreshing and helpful to not feel judged and be able to talk freely during the counselling sessions.
David said he liked school referring to specific subjects i.e. music and history taught by specific teachers he liked. However, David said he had a ‘time out pass’ which he felt the need to use during other lessons and said it was during these lessons that he became very anxious. On further exploration, David said he experienced a high level of anxiety at home similarly to his experience at school. David began to identify similar triggers to his anxiety both at home and at school and his situation in the classroom. He said it was like a light switched on in his mind where things started to make sense to him. David went on to say if his brother began to ‘act out’ at home, David’s anxiety was triggered and if he was at school and his anxiety was triggered by lots of noise and shouting, David subsequently found himself needing to leave the situation.
By working collaboratively with David and offering psychoeducation during subsequent sessions with reference to the Flight Fight Freeze responses, David said he could relate to the Flight response and found it comforting that his responses were natural and that there was a valid explanation as to why he experienced such a high level of anxiety.
David returned to a subsequent session and said although he now had some understanding as to why he becomes anxious, he said he didn’t know what to do about it when it happens. David and I explored how the lesson he must leave is different from the lessons he enjoys. Finally, we arrived at the fact that he becomes more anxious and overwhelmed in classrooms where he sits furthest from the exit. He said it was like a chain of events which made him feel increasingly worse with symptoms such as heart racing, sweaty palms, shaking legs, shallow and fast breathing and feeling as though he needed the toilet. David said he will ask to move desks to nearer the exit and we later discovered it helped so much so he was able to stay throughout the session.
By adopting relaxation, breathing, and grounding techniques, David was able to experience and learn them in the sessions and put them into practice during situations in which he became overwhelmed, both at home and at school. David reflected on his 12 attended sessions when he arrived at his final session stating that he was pleased to experience becoming more self-aware, better equipped to utilise his knowledge. He also gained during the process of counselling and adapt his needs to other areas of his life, and benefit greatly from developing new coping strategies, and become a calmer person who felt more in control of his life even in unpredictable situations.