April/May 2015 49 COURTESY OF SHERI SOBRATO BRISSON ‘DIGGING DEEP’ IS INSPIRING, AFFIRMING, EMPOWERING AND DEEPLY EMPATHIC. IT IS SOMETHING I WISH EVERY CHILD STRUGGLING WITH ILLNESS COULD HAVE.” —Dale Larson, author and psychology professor on, everything is kind of open for discussion, open for examination. There’s not a lot of privacy. And for that reason, this book can become a child’s world.” Sourkes says other colleagues and kids have commented on how approachable and interesting the questions and their lead-ins are. “The questions deal with many complex issues that many other books haven’t, such as anger. The other books are good on shock and sadness, but don’t let the child open up on the anger, frustration and the ‘it’s not fair’ part of it. This book has several pages that invite that kind of thought.” Sourkes learned about another teenager who said the book helped her talk to her mother. “The book becomes a bridge for things that would be very hard for kids. It is often difficult for them to, just out of the blue, say, ‘This is how I feel’ about something. But it helped this girl share her thoughts with her mother.” Kids and their families are so overwhelmed by these health challenges, and they don’t have opportunities to talk about the emotions around them, says Brisson, adding that the book helps provide a starting point for those discussions. In addition to the sick children, some family members have also been working with the book. Sourkes has been using it with a younger sibling of a child with cancer, finding it easily adaptable. “You really just need to change the pronouns in the book,” she says. She also knows of a mother of a developmentally disabled child who has a number of physical problems as well. She has been using the journal as a way to capture her daughter’s experiences. “It’s sort of for her daughter, through her,” Sourkes explains. Happy in the hospital Surprisingly, Brisson, now 52, looks back fondly at her childhood days in the hospital. “I have nothing but warm memories of the Children’s Hospital at Stanford— the staff, the emotional support, the fun things that happened in the playroom. That’s what motivated me to want to do something with kids and families in these settings, because of the care I received.” One of her favorite aspects of her childhood hospital visits was the small gift young patients received upon leaving. “You used to get a little present back when I was a kid—a little nurse puppet or doctor’s kit or something like that. So Sample of children’s art in Digging Deep: A Journal for Young People Facing Health Challenges. (Licensed image from Paintbrush Diplomacy.)
South Bay Accent - Apr/May 2015
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