In our line of work hearing about children being abused is nothing new so when I was referred a girl who had been burned by her guardian I was prepared for a broken girl who was struggling to find the happiness in a world that had hurt her so badly. True resilience can be found in the heart of a child and this particular child could find the joy in a bag of glitter. It was during one of our first sessions where she was still in a lot of pain that she found the dark blue glitter which she proceeded to empty onto the floor (every therapists dream), rub her hands in them and put her glitter filled hands all over my face. I do not think anyone has ever been more excited to have their face covered in glitter and her placing her hands on me and saying how beautiful a mark she could make provided her with delight she had not experienced for some time. Fondly called “Glitter Girl” by all of us in the office, I found immense pride and wonder that someone so small could experience such incredible pain and yet sparkle far brighter then the flames that had caused her to meet me in the first place.
