Marla is a 15 year old girl who was referred to Connections for counseling. Marla was having problems with stealing and would often use self harming as a way of coping with stress. During the six months she attended counseling, her goal was to learn positive ways to deal with stress. During her sessions,

Marla reported she was experiencing difficulty letting go of guilt related to a death in her family - she felt like there was something she could have done (at the age of 10) to save the person. Through the support of her counselor, Marla began to realize that it was not her fault and to understand that her feelings are a normal reaction for a person to experience after the death of a loved one. Marla also worked with her counselor on the importance of talking about her feelings to people for help and support rather than ignoring her feelings or keeping them to herself. She expressed that in the past, she would hold in feelings because she did not want to burden anyone, but has learned that it is okay to ask for help. At her last session, she thanked her counselor for helping her come to terms with her grief and to let go of her guilt. Marlaeven brought her counselor a hand-made Thank You card.