The testimony of my son

As a father of my son and watching him grow has been one of my greatest joys and heartaches over the years.  

As an adult myself that has lived with temper and anger bursting forth uncontrollably due to childhood trauma there were many times I could not handle his outbursts of emotional sensitivity in his younger years.  

I have made plenty of mistakes improperly disciplining my son with physical and emotional spanking and discouraging tone and words at an especially difficult age for him to handle.  

My son at the age starting about six, showed emotional withdrawal and symptoms of mutism at me. Whenever he was upset he would shut his heart and not want to talk anything out.  The symptoms of mutism became worse as early grade school years progressed.  Schoolchildren were not nice to him and during fifth grade, grade school he received verbal bullying from other children.

Needlessly to say my son suffered from low self-esteem as he would always compare himself to others with better looking stature and did not want to give himself any credit for any worthiness.  

As a parent, I would always instill positivity into his life and encourage him.  I would give him many compliments to bolster his self image and worth but the verbal damage he had received from bullying at school had taken a bit of bitter root in his heart.  

He would revert to bullying others himself and would impulsively physically punish any peers that would be slightly rude to him.  Obviously he wanted to get revenge back for what was done to him.  

Before my son started music therapy he was constantly angry, bitter and afraid of school and life itself.  He cried many times during fifth grade saying he didn't want to go to school anymore and we as parents took this as a redflag that he needed professional help.  

My wife and I as a family embarked upon music therapy through Cho In Professional Therapy services and just after a year into therapy we noticed noticeable differences in my son's mental state.  

Yes, during the first half year he was letting his emotions out at the slightest trigger of irritation, but as time went on, he was calm in handling conflicts.  

In every conflict he faced, ranging from dealing with unfavorable situations, to discipline and correction, friends speaking out of character to him, and especially in situations undergoing pressure, he was adept and calm at handling them with ease. 

When he became upset, he would tell us that he is upset and use words rather than emotionally retaliating at the problem.  

He would explain what is wrong with the food that is prepared for him.  He would tell us what is wrong with the choices we make when it upsets him.  After all, using words to emotionally express his frustration was a very healthy change that we didn't see in him before.

Needlessly to say, his physical aggression disappeared altogether.  He is now wonderful at socializing with peers, and knows how to steer conversations better, whether they are casual or the circumstances need a bit more careful judgement to engage into apology and humility.  

He also is more compassionate, and goes out of his way to help people and shows very thoughtful acts of kindness to those that are close to him which is a sign of maturity, especially for someone his age. 

He helps me with chores, wants to learn how to help his Dad with yard work among other household tasks and construction projects.  

I am so thankful to have found Dr. Cho In and am so grateful to have received therapy for my son and myself as a patient as well, as I will soon have a testimony of my own. 

Thank you Dr. Choi and your professional services will be forever so grateful in my family.