As a way to help him understand the need to talk about what he’s going through, I call the feelings and thoughts in his head bubbles. Today, after a pretty heavy and emotional conversation where he relived some moments in his life and thought about the future, he asked me “If I talk to you, will my bubbles get in your head and make you sad?” I reassured him that they wouldn’t and that it is good to get them out by talking.

Like many days before, he verbalizes wanting to go home to his mom. He always prefaces it by “It’s not that I don’t want to be here with you but… “. Today tears freely rolled down his cheeks as he wondered if his mom would change or if he would end up in foster care again. “Maybe this will teach her a lesson” he says. But a new worry has been added to the long list of things he constantly thinks about.

I don’t know where my words come from but they do. I tell him he’s with me until he can be safe with his family. That he is not a bad kid, this is not his fault and he did nothing wrong. He seems to relax and his attention shifts to Neko my dog who is trying to find a comfortable spot on his bed. We giggle over Neko taking all the covers and say goodnight.