"Whomsoever I've cured I've sickened now, and whomsoever I've cradled, I've put you down. I'm a search light soul they say, but I can't see it in the night. I'm only faking when I get it right." ~ Soundgarden, Fell on Black Days
"We are kings and pawns, emperors and fools." ~ The Count of Monte Cristo
For a brief period in my career I worked as a school-based therapist. Meaning, I was employed by a community mental health agency and contractually housed (had an office) in a school in one of the areas of service. Through a substantial state grant and collaborative efforts from both the school system and the agency, I had worked with both school and clinical systems to build an elaborate play therapy room conjoined to my office. Effectively, this was a full-sized classroom that had been partitioned into an office / waiting area and then a space for play therapy.
Franz was enrolled in the second grade when I met him. His mother met me after school one day to request an assessment cons…