The baby Tree- By Christine Boyd

“Several years ago, I was preparing to change to a new psychiatrist. For a number of weeks, my therapist and I talked about this change and the possible impacts to my care. 

During one of these appointments, my therapist asked me how I would describe my ideal treatment. Then he asked how I would want to feel after this ideal treatment. I was quiet for a moment. I searched my mind and found an image that seemed to fit.​

This is what I found:​

When I was a teenager, I was a cub leader with Scouts Canada. Every year, we would take the kids to plant trees through a program called Trees for Canada. ​

The first time I took part, I was around 15 years old. We went to a large field that needed to be reforested. The baby trees were in the bed of a truck; each rooted in a cone of soil, wrapped in paper. I picked out a tree and carried it, cupped in my hands, back to the hole I had prepared. I cradled it as I gently lowered it into the hole and surrounded it with soil, patting it in place. I knew that over the next couple of months, it would be checked on regularly and if necessary, given water and fertilizer to make sure that it’s thriving. ​

I told my therapist that my ideal treatment would leave me feeling like that baby tree: starting on a new journey while still feeling supported and cared for, having someone check on me to make sure that I’m still okay, being surrounded by my peers, having a home and food to eat, feeling safe and that I can trust the people who are taking care of me."