Part 6 - Characters and Objects
Some Characters and Objects
Moose - The hero of the game – on the one hand a “model child”; on the other, his nickname has a bully-like quality.
The Hero’s Pets - a pair of fish that remained in the mother’s palace and a floating Buddhist camel that remained in the father’s palace.
The Oyster - The Oyster is a supportive figure. It too has been through the earthquake and is in pain but an oyster knows how to produce a pearl from a grain of sand – to create beauty out of pain. The oyster gives him a grain of sand as a transitory object so he can call on it when he feels distressed. And, in fact, at different points throughout the plot the hero consults with the oyster and shares his feelings with it directly and openly, as, for instance, when he feels guilty about the earthquake or feels shame and inability to communicate with his friends.
Bonbon - Moose’s best friend and soulmate, with whom he can share his thoughts.
The Queen Mother - Moose’s mother personality: Has different and contradictive traits to enable projection.
The King Father - Somewhat cut off and looking for himself in spiritual and new age activities in order to enable projection.
Ellis The Worm - an aggressive figure, a loner, longing for warmth and love. It has just experienced separation.
Bothersome Flies - Symbolizing the disturbing thoughts about the divorce.
Elephant, Giraffe and Kangaroo – symbolizing Moose’s peer group, also a group of penguins and more…
Positive Thinking Feather - Its very existence in the game is to stress the importance of positive thinking throughout life.
Orb of Self Confidence - Is used as a symbolic object for self confidence.
The core around which the game was built was the emotional themes typical of children in families of divorce, as I learned from studies and from my own rich clinical experience. For each theme, a structure was constructed that grapples mainly with a specific issue.
For example – the elevator episode confronts mainly the child’s powerlessness in the face of his parents’ decision to separate.
Two episodes take place during his visits, one in the father’s home and one in the mother’s.
An additional episode takes place in a play area and deals with the shame brought about by the separation, etc.
Following are some examples of the issues we dealt with – the episodes themselves, and the psycho-educational solutions provided.
Continue reading “Part 7 - The Fantasy of Connecting the Parents”
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