I have worked in the Social Service field for 40+ years and was part of the Children’s Mental Health staff team at Child Development Centre (now Firefly) who first came up with the idea of Triple Play.
“I hate Monday mornings” (the inception of Triple Play)
A young 9 year old boy had been referred to our Centre for counselling by his Mother. After several meetings, it was quite apparent that this young man was coping reasonably well, despite a great deal of larger family turmoil swirling around him and fairly limited financial resources in the family. I asked him what would help him most, coming to talk with me on a weekly basis or belonging to a group/activity in the community. He thought for a while and stated;
“I hate Monday mornings”
He proceeded to tell me how on Monday morning, he would return to class with his schoolmates, only to hear about their many weekend activities. As his family insufficient financial resources, he had no stories to share. He acknowledged that this made him feel different and apart from his classmates. He was of the opinion that the opportunity to belong and participate in a community activity would be more beneficial to him personally than our weekly chats. I discussed this with my colleagues and the wheels got put in motion for an early ‘in house’ version of Triple Play.
