Sarah and Shawn Boyle were losing sleep and experiencing fear, anguish, and confusion. It’s the struggle parents experience when their child is in distress — particularly when they can’t figure out how to resolve it.
Their son, Sawyer, had always been athletic, academic, well-adjusted, and well-liked. He had a kind, compassionate, and easy-going demeanor and had many friends, interests, and hobbies. 但随后COVID-19悄然而至, 以及他本人的生活, the social framework he was learning to navigate, 崩溃进入隔离区. Suddenly, he was alone in this room, conducting his life from a computer. His authentic life, as he knew and understood it, had become virtual. 他8岁.
When your child is hurting, you can’t help but hurt. 很难不把他的痛苦内化. But this is why we reached out to our pediatrician and, ultimately, to Ohana. When our child struggles, the family struggles.
—Sarah Boyle, mother of Ohana patient Sawyer Boyle
Harder still was the equally sudden return to an in-person life he no longer recognized. 11岁的索耶退出了. 他对运动失去了兴趣. He found he needed to draw new boundaries with other kids, but didn’t know or trust how to do that. 既不, 似乎, 其他的孩子, who also lost a year of social development and were struggling. When Sawyer told his parents he felt like there should be more to life and that this type of life wasn’t fulfilling, 他们停止了睡眠. 他也是.
索耶勇敢地继续去上学, 继续做他的作业, which could have led some people to assume he was OK,莎拉说. “All we knew for certain was that he was miserable.”
“When your child is hurting, you can’t help but hurt,莎拉说. “很难不把他的痛苦内化. But this is why we reached out to our pediatrician and, ultimately, to Ohana. When our child struggles, the family struggles.”
This also is why the Boyle family made a joint decision to speak candidly about Sawyer’s struggles and the family’s work with Ohana to help him navigate a healthy life path.
“We stress in our household that talking about this is going to help so many other people to normalize mental health issues,莎拉说. “Society talks regularly about all kinds of ailments from the neck down, and how to address them. Why can’t we talk about health issues from the neck up?”
在奥哈纳，索耶得到了 帮助他建立自信的工具 以及独立意识. He was introduced to different ways of looking at scenarios and situations, 他父亲说, while learning not to take certain interactions to heart, 让他们从他的背上滚下来.
“Ohana also has helped Sawyer realize that he, 自己, 已挂起, and that he may need to pivot to improve 自己.肖恩说。. "I think Sawyer is starting to get that when another person is harsh, it may be more about the person trying to figure out who they are. It’s a constant exercise to have confidence, 站得高, stay in his own sense of self in the presence of others’ issues."
Through Ohana, Sawyer learned how to set boundaries. 他学会了如何定义自己的情绪, distinguishing between those that are inappropriate and those that are valid but uncomfortable, 以及如何克服这种感觉.
起初, 索耶说, he was a bit nervous and didn’t want to go to Ohana, but he found the staff made him feel comfortable right away. After his first class, he turned to his mom and said, “That was actually kind of fun.”
Most importantly, he says, going to Ohana helps him realize he is not alone in his feelings. “And I’m learning how to spot emotions and how to work through them.”
Sawyer’s parents are proud of their son and grateful for the progress he’s made during his work with Ohana.
“He was willing to participate in this process.肖恩说。. "Ohana is not going to figure it all out for him. The parent and the child must take an active role in this to help the child gain insight on how to rise above his issues. It takes courage to try to know yourself and to stay true to who you are, 要明白幸福是一种选择.”
