How "Sesame Street" Is Helping Children Learn To Cope With Trauma

Cupid may be a tiny baby, sure, but I’ll just come out and say it, he also just so happens to be the only holiday mascot who openly carries a weapon, ammunition, and the thirst to attack. Then we’re supposed to want to be on the receiving end of its prick. Ouch!

When most people envision going to therapy, the image that comes to mind is one of a tastefully decorated, if plain, room in an office suite, with a bookshelf, a couch, and a white noise machine. Somehow, my therapy journey led me to the corrugated tin room of a Spanish language school in Guatemala, struggling to hang on to a fleeting wifi signal as I talked through my feelings in my late twenties…

It took me about five years to finally decide to seek therapy. I'd been feeling depressed and anxious on and off since the beginning of college, and once it started affecting me into my adulthood I decided I had to do something about it. During college I had the mindset of "If I got myself into this, then I can get myself out of it." I figured I didn't need anyone's help. I simply didn't understand at the time how deep my emotional pain was. It wasn't until I matured a little bit that I realized I couldn't solve it all on my own.