Reframing a Tantrum

Last week as I was working with one of my clients. I noticed he was very agitated for some reason. J. is non-verbal, 10 year old boy. (who happens to have an identical twin brother, who is also on the spectrum) Anyhow, J. was mostly calm, but midway through our session he started hitting his head with two closed fists. There were no apparent antecedants/causes to provoke such behavior in this particular incident.

As I tried to move his arms down from further harm, he bit my left lower arm. I was in a bit of shock, since he had never bit me before. Still, his mother came over to support and moved him down to the floor. According to her, J. has tantrums like this approximately 3x a day. I can tell she was very comfortable with moving him to a safe place. I also know that she appreciated that I gave her permission to come support me when her son has a tantrum. Without a doubt, parents know their children the best. She was able to position him very easily on the floor, clearly she has done this so many times. J. lied down with his back on the floor, with his legs wrapped around his mothers waist. I sat by J's head. Intuitively I felt J. was taking in too much energy and by hitting his head hard, it was relieving some of the tension. Of course, we don't want him to hurt himself, so we stopped him from doing so.

As I sat by his head, I took some breaths and put my hand on his head. I told him in a calm voice that he's okay and safe. At that moment I also prayed for him. (in silence). In the past, I might have tried to get him up sooner than he was ready to, but I trust my inner guidance, and felt this was the best approach for this circumstance. I could tell his mom appreciated it, since she seemed much more calm. At one point, we were actually laughing about the whole situation.

Within 20 minutes, J. was calm and was able to go back to work on his own. I'm glad I listened and acted on my intuitive guidance. In my opinion, all tantrums should not be treated alike. We should all act from our hearts rather than our minds. I believe we have all the answers within.

Life is not about being robots and doing the same thing all the time. Life is about connecting from one heart to another. This experience was a blessing for me. I hope you receive something from my experience. Would love your feedback. :)