Being lost in one’s own world is a frequently referred to phenomenon amongst parents and educators, usually referencing a child who is oblivious to the doings underway in their immediate surroundings and in the immediate moment. Such students mentally wander away from the learning environment, finding comfort in the fantasy their mind assembles in that moment.

For most children, this is simply a matter of some minor interest or immediate sensory stimuli occupying their thoughts. Most often it is momentary, and having satisfied their curiosity, the child moves on to new interests, or refocuses on happenings in the here and now.

For other children, the issue is more symptomatic of a larger and chronic issue at work. Society has come to recognise that children commonly exhibiting such behaviour should be professionally evaluated. Usually the evaluation will lead to implementation of positive methodology by which to treat the problem.

In 1970s America, though significant positive change evolved since the 1960s, rigid conformity with patriarchy still ruled the land. A child who was different, a child who was withdrawn, who was lost in their own world, most often received no professional evaluation. And if there was no evaluation, there would be no assistance to help the child address the underlying issues.

What they did receive were the taunts of classmates, of other children not even in their school. They were beaten or bullied, harassed and picked on, teased and insulted.

Children of that time were left to struggle alone, and Tim was such a 1970s child. While loved and otherwise well cared for, his parents were totally unaware a child could harbour intense conflict between mind and body. Consequently, Tim was left to either suffer between living in the throes of conformity, or disregard these forces and face social ostracising and ridicule. Few children of that or any other time would ‘choose’ anything other than conformity – being a social pariah was hell.

Fortunately, Dolores was well aware of the social history of 1970s transitional America, a transition that actually continued on some level to current times. Even as Tim was intimately connected to the personal history, he would need to learn how to relax and connect with the courage needed to find his way through. If Tim could learn to trust Dolores, if he could learn to work with her, Tim might find his way to where he wished to go, to who he actually was inside.

While Tim knew sooner or later he must share embarrassing and painful memories from his life, the actual sharing – verbalising the experiences – meant blowing past walls established in his mind to keep him safe. He would have to talk on feelings and experiences he had been taught to believe were sinful and perhaps even perverted.

Much of this had been tempered over the last few years, as the advent of online information technology meant Tim could learn and interact in relative anonymity. One by one the walls inside began to fall, and each wall felled exposed his raw nerves to the full force of the ingrained feelings that screamed “you are sick.”

Dolores started with a topic that she felt were easier for Tim to wrap his mind around – was there an actual incident that led him to make first contact with her? The only problem with this question was her as yet total ignorance of the recent dreams that haunted Tim – intense dreams which caused him to scream out in horror, waking him from sound sleep – and waking everyone else in the house as well.

You can’t hide a 95 decibel scream in the soft, ambient background of a 25 decibel night.