My Big Bear Story is the result of a collaborative project driven by Creative Regions as part of the Company’s 2014 Anti-Domestic Violence Campaign.

Having been a child and adolescent counsellor for many years and with an absolute passion for the safety and wellbeing of children, I was more than happy to be the representative for UnitingCare Community on this project. Together with counsellors from Phoenix House, worksheets were developed and used with young clients from our services which then became the source information for the story.

The project was designed to capture the voices of children by identifying their emotional experiences when confronted with unsafe situations. A goal was to have a children’s story book that could be used as a tool to help children make connections between the emotions and behaviours experienced as a result of being exposed to violence in the home. The other goal was to help children develop safety plans identifying trusted adults for support. Ultimately, it was hoped that the book would give any reader a deeper understanding of the impact of domestic and family violence on children.

The story tells of a small bear who experiences an array of emotions when preoccupied by thoughts of Big Bear’s actions. With each emotion, physiological symptoms and resulting behaviours are identified.

Sometimes when I think about scary Bear,
I feel like an angry tiger.

My heart thumps and my head throbs.
Fiery lava burns inside my tummy
And bubbles up inside me.

I stamp my feet and roar out loud.
I am no longer happy bear.

Trauma impacts on the Central Nervous System and when triggered this is where the symptoms arise from. When physiological symptoms are triggered by the external environment a child will behave in a way that is designed to rid the perceived threat. It is at these times that children need to be held (metaphorically speaking) to enable them to restore a sense of safety. It is only when the child feels safe that the symptoms will dissipate and so too will the behaviour.

The use of books in therapy is termed Bibliotherapy and is one of the expressive therapies belonging to the play therapy field. The view is that an individual’s relationship to the content of a book is therapeutic. Identification with a character can lead the reader to a rapid release of negative emotion, insight into one’s own difficulties and an alternative position from which to view these difficulties. Reading books to children helps them to think about, understand and work through their emotional difficulties and identify solutions. A children’s book can be a starting place for a discussion or an end in itself.

Image of from the book

Although the book is targeted at children in the mid to upper primary age bracket it can also be used as a therapeutic tool for older adolescents and adults. A lovely example of the insight it was hoped My Big Bear Story would offer to its readers is of a 17 year old young woman whose counsellor read the book to her during a session. After hearing this story the young woman commented that for the first time in her life she finally understood herself.

Copies of the book can be purchased from the Creative Regions website for $14.95 with proceeds going back into socially engaged arts projects. The Education package can be downloaded for FREE through the website.

If this post brings up any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to talk to someone you can call Lifeline 24 hour crisis support line (13 11 14).

 

 

Kate is Manager Family Relationship Centre/ Program Manager Family Support Program at UnitingCare Community. UnitingCare Community is one of the state’s largest community service providers and a leading provider across the Bundaberg and Wide Bay Burnett Regions. Our vision is to be renowned for achieving outstanding outcomes that enhance the resilience and capacity of our core client groups of children and families, people with a disability and those in crisis, so that together we build a better society now and for the future. The work of UnitingCare Community is based on the model of person-centred care and reflects the organisation’s shared values of compassion, justice, respect, working together and leading through learning. UnitingCare Community is a service group of UnitingCare Queensland, and part of a broader health and community services network. We are an integral part of the national Lifeline Australia network. The counsellors who assisted Creative Regions with the development of this book all have tertiary qualifications in Counselling, Psychology, Social Work or other humanities disciplines.

Images courtesy Creative Regions. Illustrations by Jacqui Read, Design by Aimee Courtice