Lost in Translation

One of my favorite moments as a child psychiatrist occurs when a parent pauses in the middle of an evaluation and says something like, "I never thought about it that way before." Sometimes the child has been trying to communicate something important for years, but the message was obscured by behavior, frustration, silence, anxiety, or misunderstanding. In that moment, the story begins to change. What once looked like defiance becomes fear. What appeared to be a lack of motivation becomes overwhelm. What seemed like disinterest becomes a longing for connection. Much of our work involves helping people understand experiences that are difficult to see from the outside.