Chris's Story: You chose "Tell"...

‘That was the year I started having sex with my uncle,’ he blurted out. He imagined the look of horror on the registrars face but couldn’t look at him to know.

‘It seems like that tipped your life upside down,’ he said.

‘I hated it,’ said Chris. ‘I hate him.’

‘Do your parents know about this?’ he asked.

‘I don’t want them to know,’ said Chris.

Then it all tumbled out – Chris’s belief that he should have stopped it, his belief the family would implode, his fear his uncle would kill himself.

‘What a huge sacrifice you’ve made for your family,’ said the registrar.

Chris hadn’t thought about it this way, but he recognised it was partly true. His sacrifice hadn’t worked though, because all he’d done was worry them and make them angry with him.

The registrar suggested a psychotherapist or counsellor he could refer Chris to, and asked Chris’s permission to write a referral letter to help Chris get started.

Going through the psychotherapist’s door was the hardest step he ever took, but months later, when he’d returned to school and started hanging out with his old friends again, he knew it was the best step he’d ever taken. He was never able to go back to playing cricket, but his friends all played volleyball, and that felt just right to him.