Personal Impact Stories

When you work with kids, it’s all about the little moments.

The little moments are the ones that help children learn that they can trust you – playing games, coloring, or even sitting with them in silence can help build rapport with a child. And that rapport is how Beech Brook staff are able to help them with their problems – it’s why they let us help them with their problems.

Beech Brook’s REACH program is a critical part of our school-based services that help children who suffer from emotional or behavioral problems learn to better function in school. These children may have trouble focusing and can disrupt the other students with their behavior, making learning more difficult for others. Building a rapport with these children, finding the little moments, is a vital component of our work, but with many children, especially those who have undergone some form of trauma, that rapport doesn’t come easily.

Christine Peterson, a Clinical Behavioral Specialist in Beech Brook’s REACH program, had the importance of those little moments reaffirmed when she met Sam, a second grader at one of her schools.

Sam has a hard time at school. He has several behavioral challenges – he gets angry when things don’t go as expected, doesn’t know how to cope with those strong emotions, and acts out by yelling and disrupting the class. This gets him sent to the office regularly and many of the school staff struggle to manage his behaviors.

One day, Sam was having an exceptionally tough day. Christine offered to sit with him to help him calm down. A little while later after a talk and a snack, Christine took him to the restroom to wash his hands, when Christine noticed something in the mirror.

Eventually, Christine took Sam to the restroom to wash his hands, when she noticed that he was smiling.

“Look, Sam,” Christine said. “You found your smile!”

Sam looked up into the restroom mirror, saw his smiling reflection, and grinned even wider.

Then Christine brought Sam back to the office so that he could clean up the mess he had made during his outburst. Sam kept his smile on his face, to the delight of the rest of the school staff who tried to calm him down. After he finished cleaning up, Sam gave Christine a hug and said, “Thank you for being my friend.”

That was one of the little moments, which was anything but little. It may have only been one day with Sam, but it was a connection that was rare for him. Showing a child some kindness, sharing a moment, can change their entire perspective and give them someone to talk to who will fully support and listen to them.

“It’s so important to show children that there is someone out there who believes in them,” Christine says. “It just takes one.”