飛鼠的故事

-- Trust only movement. Life happens at the level of events, not of words, Trust movement.

Play is a child's work and this is not a trivial pursuit. -- Alfred Adler

The Story of A LEGO Flying Squirrel.

By Wen-Chih Tseng (曾文志)

Let me tell you my own story about how I use the concept of engagement in my counseling practice. In 2008, I began to use LEGO bricks as a therapy medium; I started doing LEGO brick-play therapy. See the photo below; it was built by a misbehaving, fifth-grade aboriginal student. He did not suffer from any severe psychological trauma but had experienced a lot of frustration. I believed that he was a discouraged child who felt himself unable achieve any goal. In our third therapy session, I brought my LEGOs. I told him, “Today, let’s build something.” He replied, “I don’t know what to build.” I said, “How about if you build a giraffe?” He replied, “No, it’s too difficult.” “An elephant?” “No! ” “A car?” “No!”

Okay, I said, you might like to build something that you are familiar with. How about a flying squirrel?” He said, “Okay, I think I can.”

Why did I suggest that the boy build a flying squirrel? It was important to note that he had enjoyable memories of flying squirrels. It always was a happy time when he accompanied his father to the mountains hunting the animals. He had positive memories of them. The experiences triggered the power to make him act.

When he finished building the four legs of the squirrel, he told me that “it is too hard to build, could we just not do it anymore?” I said, “It is not too hard, you see, you have come up with four legs. Just keep going you will finish it.” So he continued.

When he tried to balance the torso on the legs, he said again, “it is difficult. I can’t build it anymore.” I said, “It is indeed a little bit difficult. However, I saw that you almost found the way to solve the balance problem. Try again and I believe you eventually will find a way to do it.” The boy finally agreed.

During the process of his building, the most part of his dialogues was: “It’s too hard. Can I not do it?” I’d say, “Don’t quit! It is not too hard! Keep going forward and you’ll make it.”

After 45 minutes, the boy completed the squirrel. “How do you feel? I inquired. The boy replied with a big smile, “Today, I am very, very happy!”

I didn’t just listen to his words. I also listened to his feelings. However his model didn’t look like a squirrel but that wasn’t important. I thought the boy re-experienced the pleasure of being encouraged, the enjoyment of completing a project from beginning to end, and the gratification of believing in “Yes I can.”

I believed that: As long as the boy was constantly encouraged, he would find a way to move on and revitalize his courage to face his own challenges.

-- What is courage? Courage is the willingness to risk failure...There is only one danger I find in life, and that, indeed, is a real one. You may take too many precautions. -- Alfred Adler