You always amaze me with your insight, care, and your good heart. You are truly a gift in so many ways. I didn't remember that I had told you about my vision or apparition. Now, take into consideration that I was raised protestant, very anti-catholic, and learning anything about Mary was the trickiest part of my conversion. The more I learned, the more I realized how wrong all my perceptions were about Mary. That said, I am still learning about how and why she is integrated into the Catholic faith more than other denominations. It's still a point of discomfort for me, just out of habit. So when she came to me in a vision, I was more than surprised. She appeared to be on the ocean, and it was dark and stormy off in the distance behind her. The first thing she said to me was "Do you trust my son?" to which I answered, "of course!" and then she said, "Do you trust me?" and I hesitated for a second, but then humbled myself and said "of course..." and she replied "A storm is coming and you need to trust Him and His plan for your life." It was a few days later that someone I follow on Instagram posted a picture of Mary, Star of The Sea (Stella Maris) and I had to catch my breath, with goosebumps, as I realized it was the same vision of Mary I had, without every having seen that picture ever before. To me that was confirmation that I wasn't insane and it really did happen but I was still afraid to even acknowledge the vision since I didn't want anyone to think i was insane and I was scared of the forewarning of her statement, even though I was supposed to "trust Him". My immediate inclination was that I was going to suffer a miscarriage so I have lived in fear, despite my promise to trust Him, through the whole pregnancy. I kept praying over my baby almost every night and just hoping I was insane and worrying about nothing and everything would turn out ok. When my mother in law became extremely ill and then finally died, I hoped that was the storm. I waited for peace, and none came, and I knew that wasn't my storm. Then when my mom's health started failing rapidly and we got one bad report after another about her until she was on hospice with no hope of returning to a normal life, I hoped that was the storm. I hoped that her dying was the storm I feared. I waited for God's reassurance but realized once again, it wasn't over. Dylan means "of the sea" and Marinus means "of or pertaining to the sea", both of which I didn't know beforehand. His name was definitely divine inspiration. I later learned that St. Marinus was a 4th-century stonemason and Deacon who built a chapel and monastery, founded what later become known as San Marino, and lived the life of a hermit in holy contemplation. I'm trying to find comfort in the fact that God already knew Dylan's story the moment he was conceived. God knew he was not meant for this earth. Dylan's purpose was never to live on this earth. He only came for a short time to teach us things, strengthen us, change us, grow us, and make us learn to trust God - a hard lesson for most of us. And he was loved every second that he was on this earth.

4 Areas to Specialize in as a Child’s Therapist

If you’re somebody who has always wanted to make a difference to children’s lives, a career in child therapy could be for you.

As a child therapist, you can work in Action Behavior centers, schools, hospitals, and community centers. It’s a rewarding career path with high earning potential and a diverse range of specialties. Nowadays, you can even provide online therapy for people across the world.

You will use a range of techniques and strategies to help children up to the age of 18 from all backgrounds. You’ll work closely with your patients to tackle their deepest thoughts, identify their emotions, and change their behaviors.

Types of Child Therapists

There are lots of different types of child therapists, each of which focuses on a specific aspect of health and behavior. If you’re not yet sure what type of child therapist you’d like to become, here are four therapy specialties to consider.

  1. Behavioral Therapist

As a behavioral therapist, you will work with children who have been diagnosed with behavioral disorders and mental health condition, such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Your patients may struggle to interact with other students at school and find it hard to integrate with properly into a friend group.

You can help your patients to develop healthy coping strategies to deal with their negative emotions and prevent tantrums. You’ll also work closely with each patient’s parents to provide them with techniques to use at home if their child gets upset or angry. 

  1. Cognitive Behavioral Therapist

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a type of therapy that looks at the connection between thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. As a cognitive behavioral therapist, you will help your patients to identify how their thoughts lead to certain emotions and actions.

You’ll teach them how to change their thought patterns from negative to positive to improve their behaviors. You can further specialize as a cognitive behavioral child therapist to address more specific issues, such as depression, anxiety, and eating disorders.

  1. School Therapist

As the name suggests, a school therapist works in schools to help students who are struggling. You might work with students who have behavioral issues or mental health disorders, or those who require emotional and social support.

You’ll also help students to develop their skill sets to make their school life easier and set them up for future career success. You might help them to set goals and create action plans to ensure that they reach these goals.

  1. Psychodynamic Therapist

As a psychodynamic therapist, you will look at your patient’s unconscious thoughts and how these thoughts influence their behaviors. During your sessions, you’ll use talk therapy to delve deep into the unconscious mind and uncover hidden thoughts.

Over time, your patients will learn how to effectively self-reflect and identify their negative thought and feelings. With your help, they will learn simple techniques to adjust their thought patterns to lead healthier and happier lives.