Description
Therapeutic goals: to liberate children’s personality potential and help them develop it, discover their inner strength; to support harmony, emotional balance and health of children and adolescents
Recommended age group: 5-15
Secondary target group: parents, teachers, nurses, doctors, social workers, psychologists, clergy, relatives
Brief content of the work:
The author of the book, Brandon Bays, has been a therapist for years, devoted herself to healthy nutrition, herbs, cleansing the body, meditations, techniques to release emotions, and yet she got cancer. She was threatened with surgery, and the only thing that helped was what the doctor Deepak Chopra discovered, that repressed memories and unresolved emotional traumas are stored in the body, in the cells affected by the disease (p. 29). Cells are renewed in the body after a certain time. Before the affected cells die, they transmit the thought stored in them to the new cells and thus the disease is transmitted to them. Brandon managed to find out how it is possible to get to a specific memory and remove it, so that the destructive program is not transferred to the next generation of cells in the body. She worked with herself and cured her cancer, the key was forgiveness. The process by which true forgiveness can be reached is described in the therapeutic method developed by her, The Journey.
In the first part of the book, there are stories where children’s various problems and ways of solving them are presented, which help to release their bright potential. This entire section actually guides the reader as in bibliotherapy accompanied by a therapist. It helps to get him interested in The Journey therapy if he wants to heal.
The second part of the book focuses on children aged 5-7, there are detailed instructions for their treatment and a fairy tale that works on a subliminal level. It can be read to children as a bedtime story, they like it. Included in this tale are psychoneurological immunology, neurological programming, and other highly effective healing tools.
The third part of the book is intended for the treatment of older children between the ages of 8 and 12, there are also instructions for working with teenagers. It has been proven that even before starting to work with children, parents also complete their own Journey (see recommended books for adults).
At the beginning, Brandon Bays writes about using The Journey in schools. He also describes his own healing with the help of The Journey and how health problems of both children and adults can be solved. The Journey can help children cope with death and loss. Parents would like to protect their children from sad news from a young age, but in doing so they actually make the situation more difficult for them. The Journey gives children the opportunity to express their grief and provides an opportunity to say goodbye to the deceased. Even in the stories of this part of the publication, the bibliotherapy approach of the author stands out.
Also included are instructions on how to accompany a child through The Journey therapy. We consider it premature if the parent himself does not know the course of The Journey. Likewise, other topics such as how to use The Journey in everyday life, in a divorce situation, etc. they require the parent to have an idea about therapy tools (see recommended literature Cesta, 2013). They are also found in the story about the Healing adventure for children, so we will go directly to it.
Description of the possibilities of therapeutic work:
The children’s fairy tale Healing Adventure is written for children aged 5-7 years. Please note that when the parent/therapist reads this healing fairy tale to the child, the instructions must be followed exactly, they have their own meaning. It is good if the parent/therapist familiarizes himself with the text in advance. Pauses must be observed when reading, the process takes approximately 18 minutes.
The boy Jakubko falls asleep and begins to dream, a staircase appears in front of him. Jakubko is surrounded by love and wants to find out where the stairs go. (At the beginning, it is advisable to ask the younger child if he knows what love is, or to explain it to him – in words to love).
Later, when an angel appears in the text, the child can be shown a picture of what it looks like in the book. What Jakubko is experiencing is followed by a text written in italics, intended for the child who is listening. (This text can be colored). Angel sings Jakubko on the Road, he feels safe with him. In the imagination, a space shuttle appears in front of them, it can go to any part of Jakubko’s body. Stop where his body’s wisdom dictates. Jakubko can then find the cellular memory that caused some physical problem. The problem is solved by a campfire conversation, and the memory is changed when the child acquires the means to do so (balloons filled with useful properties). In the end, you will forgive yourself and the person related to the situation.
We will not describe the entire course of the fairy tale here (after p. 126), because it is described in detail in the book. Further (pp. 134-142) there are instructions for The Journey with older children. Important in the process of The Journey is forgiveness and healing. This self-help book provides many suggestions and instructions for therapy led by teachers, health professionals, or parents. Therapy using The Journey method is not easy, but those who are seriously interested in it can continue their education in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, or abroad directly under the guidance of Brandon Bays. Many educators and therapists are already working with this method in our country. They have good experience with it.
Brandon Bays is a spiritually oriented person, spirituality and love are not missing in his therapy The Journey. It helps people heal all over the world, even in poor countries, after tragedies, it is world-famous and recognized. That is why we allow ourselves to end with her quote (p. 147): “Let every breath of ours, every moment of life, be an expression of an endless prayer of gratitude and serve the real truth.”
Description of experience from own work with the literary piece:
I have many years of positive experience with The Journey method with both adults and children. I also worked as a coach at Brandon Bays courses.
Other recommended reading:
Brandon Bays. 2013. The Journey. (Translated into Slovak by Beáta Ďuračková). Bratislava, Eastone Books, 188 p. ISBN 978-80-8109-217-6
Brandon Bays. 2015. Freedom is … (Translated into Slovak by Lucia Hrabětová). Bratislava, Eastone Books, 207 p. ISBN 978-80-8109-279-4
The recommendation created by:
PhDr. Viera Diešková, CSc., Bratislava (Slovakia), March 31, 2023
The recommendation from Slovak to English translated by: Mária Trechová, Workplace: PRO SKIZP – Association for support of Slovak Chamber of Physicists, Laboratory Diagnosticians, Language Speech Therapists and Therapeutic Educators, c. a. Bratislava, Slovakia
Recommended citation method:
Diešková, Viera, 2023. Professional reference and sharing of experiences for the literary work of the author Brandon Bays, A Journay for Parents and Children. In Kotrbová, K. et al: Biblioterapia.sk. Bratislava: PRO SKIZP – Association to support the development of the Slovak Chamber of Clinical Physics, Laboratory Diagnosticians, Language Speech Therapists and Therapeutic Pedagogues, 2023. ISBN 978-80-974667-0-1 Available on: https://www.biblioterapia.sk/en/publikacia/professional-reference-of-the-literary-work-the-journey-for-parents-and-children/
It didn’t pass language editing!
The contribution was created thanks to support from the European Union Erasmus+ program, Key action 2 – Cooperation between organizations and institutions, KA210 – Small partnerships for cooperation in the field of education and training. Project name “Prototype of online teaching aid for bibliotherapy”, project number 2022-1-SK01-KA210-VET-000082483. It represents the opinion of the author and the European Commission or author is not responsible for any use of the information contained therein.
