Kloe Went to Court - Part 1

One day last winter I mentioned staying up late to help one of our children with some hard things.

That child was our Kloe.

She returned home from work around 1 in the morning and burst through the door crying uncontrollably.  Kevin jumped out of bed and went to her.  He took her in his arms and held her tight as she continued crying and shaking.  Through her sobs she tried to tell her dad what was wrong.

She'd had two major panic attacks (she didn't realize at the time that they were panic attacks, she just thought something was very wrong with her) while driving to and from work.

I've mentioned before that Kloe has been dealing with anxiety since she was around 12.  It comes and goes in waves.  As Kevin and I have tried to learn and understand more about anxiety we have worked with her to manage it.  Over the years she's had lots of anxiety attacks but these were her first panic attacks.

Kevin calmed her down and talked with her for a while.  After I fed her and talked with her some more she was finally able to calm down and go to sleep.
Up until then she'd prayed that she could figure something out to help make the anxiety better, but that night she prayed that it would all just go away.

Later that night as Kevin and I discussed the situation we realized we'd done all we could do and we needed to get her help.
At that time her anxiety was also causing her to have bad headaches almost daily and it was effecting her sleep and school work.  She also felt a lot of sadness almost every day for a couple of months leading up to the panic attacks.  Looking back she says she's pretty sure it got to the point of depression but she never wanted to call it that or admit to it because she felt like it would just get worse.

I have friends who have taken their kids to therapists for one reason or another.  More often than not they had a hard time finding one or had to go through several to find the right fit.
Kev and I prayed we could quickly find the right therapist for Kloe, and within a few days a friend of mine referred us to Court with Peaceful Solutions.  I went to his website and was able to make her an appointment that week.

Kev and I took her to her first visit with Court.

The four of us sat down together.  Kloe, Kevin, and I on a couch, and Court on the chair across from us.  We watched Court as he changed into his slippers, covered up with a blanket, put a pillow behind his neck and snuggled down into his chair.
We tried not to crack up.

We immediately liked the guy.

He talked to all of us for a while, asking lots of questions.  Then he spent the rest of the hour talking to Kloe by herself.

When they finished he brought me and Kevin back in and the four of us talked about a game plan for Kloe.

We saw results immediately.

Court helped Kloe understand where her anxiety was coming from.  He talked her through her fears and gave her homework to help her manage it.
She listened to Court and did her homework.
The headaches went away over night.
Court explained that anxiety is something that doesn't just go away but if you understand where it's coming from and consistently use tools to manage it, you can beat it.  

Kloe did everything Court told her to do and she only needed to see him a few times.

I think she's learned that knowledge is power and now, six months later, I watch her helping her friends understand their emotions.
The anxiety tried to trap her, but now I love watching her be free.

Court is located in the Sugar House area.

He specializes in autism, anxiety and depression in children and teens.
http://peacefulslc.com/

Next week in Part 2 I'll share some of the specific things Kloe did to manage her anxiety.
Kloe is helping me write these posts.  If you have any questions for her or for me you can send an email to kevandbeck93@yahoo.com.