Touching Spirit Bear

For several years I worked with a particularly angry and troubled teenager.  He spoke little and visits were mostly for medication management of severe mood swings and aggressive outbursts.  Then one day he entered my office and began a conversation.  He asked me if I’d ever heard of the book Touching Spirit Bear, by Ben Mikaelsen.  When I said that I had not, he asked me if I would be willing to read it and I said that I would.

It was clear that my patient identified with the story’s main character Cole.  As the story begins, Cole is an angry and violent youth, a bully.  Cole had beaten up and seriously injured a boy named Peter.  As would any good sociopath, Cole blames Peter rationalizing that he deserved his beating.

Cole had been in and out of the system, a system he experienced as uncaring and hypocritical.  He had been sent from one facility to another, from one social worker to another.  This time, rather than return to jail, Cole is offered the option of going to an island where, under the supervision of two native Alaskans, he will remain isolated in a journey of self-discovery.

Initially, in a rage, Cole destroys his only food and shelter.  He attempts to escape the island by swimming but is swept back ashore by the tide.  Exhausted, cold and hungry he is approached by a great white bear.  In his continued rage he tries to kill the bear but winds up getting seriously mauled.  In a moment of near death, he has his epiphany.  He wants to live.

Cole is rescued, rehabilitated, and returns to the island for a second time.  Much more open to the experience of the island, he begins to come to terms with his anger.  He begins to feel remorse for the hurt he has caused.  He begins to feel forgiveness and understanding for those who, in the past, had hurt him. In the second part of the book Peter, traumatized and depressed, is brought to the island after two suicide attempts. The later part of the story is about the healing that occurs between these two scared and scarred youths.

Touching Spirit Bear holds out the hope of change but emphasizes that change is not easy.  The story makes clear that remorse alone is not enough.  Where there has been hurt and damage, there must be a process of repair.  When my patient read this story, he felt understood and he felt hope.  He felt that he too could change.

Does it take a near death experience in order to change, or is a good story enough to inspire and to transform? Over the years, I saw many angry youths.  I didn’t have an island where I could send them, and near death experiences are generally not recommended.  Instead, I recommended they read this book and I asked them to discuss. How were they like and unlike Cole? What would they have done if alone on the island?  With the book as a catalyst, I had many productive conversations with otherwise guarded and angry youths, who were willing to consider the possibility of change.

Sometimes it takes being alone on an island.  Sometimes it takes being mauled by a bear.  But sometimes it just takes a good story.