“Kevin” recently returned to public school after serving a sentence in residential treatment for sexually abusing another child. The director of Intermountain’s school-based-services says that everyone was afraid of Kevin: the schools, his probation officer, his therapist. Even experienced staffers at Intermountain were afraid of Kevin.
However, Kevin was what people call a “paper monster.” On paper, he looked like he would be a monster. The school’s plan was to assign an adult to him throughout the day, to never let him out of their sight. It would be as if he was back behind bars.
Through working with his Intermountain therapist, Kevin is beginning to shed the “monster” label. He has discovered that he’s a talented songwriter and has begun seeking out leadership roles within his therapy groups. His music is helping him heal.
He’s working on two main goals: First, to be a safe person for other people to be around; and, second, to look at his own history of abuse and work through his pain.
He’s now not only making a difference in his own life, but he’s helping his therapy group to improve while sharing his music with the wider school community. The difference in his life now, his therapist says, is that Intermountain was willing to enter into a sincere relationship with this “paper monster.”
“You have to be able to see him as ‘Kevin,’” he says, “and not as ‘what Kevin has done.’”
Thank you for partnering with Intermountain to bring healing and hope to young people like Kevin.
Chaplain Chris Haughee
P.S. You can click HERE for a bulletin insert to share Kevin’s story with your congregation!
Click here to subscribe to our RSS feed with your favorite email client and be alerted to new articles.