Deon is six years old and he lives with his mother and twelve year old sister. His father left when he was two and, except for a few encounters at family occasions, they have had no contact.

Phuc is a seven year old boy, born to parents from Vietnam. He has an older brother with serious medical problems requiring ongoing treatments and hospitalizations. When Phuc was still an infant, his parents separated and he has had no contact with his father.

When Jeremy was seven years old, he travelled to Toronto with his mother from a war zone in the Middle East. The year before, he and his parents had witnessed six people die in a bomb attack. Adding to his distress, his parents began to have violent quarrels and later separated.

Sherri was 10 years old at the beginning of her therapy. She suffered from depression and anxiety as a result of sexual abuse by her father over many years and physical abuse by her older brother.