| The
Therapeutic Boat
"You made a boat
for yourself ?! In what sense?"
"In the sense that I’ve built it"
"Good heavens, how can you build a boat? You
bought the hull and then you made all the little jobs…"
"No, I made the hull too!"
"The hull? Incredible! How did you do it…
with all those curved parts?"
"Anyone can. Would you like to see it?"
"Certainly, I would!"
__________
"Here it is!"
"This one?!"
"Yes"
"But you… you are fantastic! It’s
wonderful!"
 |
a punt... |
| ... and a 5 meter
Sharpie hull. |
|
One glance at your
interviewer tells you that have risen appreciably
in his estimation of you. That glance is an assertion
of changes you have undergone. You have imagined admiration
like this and now it is yours. Now you see yourself
in a different way. The skill and self-confidence
gained are the key, and Bandura, an important writer,
writes about it in a book of eight hundred pages,
saying that this is the heart of the matter.
It goes without saying
that if building a boat produces such effects, it’s
not strange that, in the Juvenile Prison in Bologna
the teachers have drawn the same conclusions and they
have equipped a shop where the boys are building a
boat. But many guides and tutors are needed to build
boats and tutors aren’t always woodworkers.
That's not so bad, in some cases they can do something
else, for example
teach model airplane construction. It’s important
that the object built leads to the same emotional
magic as building boats.
This is why we add,
besides the photos of the boats, some others of an
engined aircraft built by the boys of the Juvenile
Prison “Beccaria” in Milan. Here you can
see some photos of this adventure. Some of them show
finished objects, others show some dreams that are
now being realized.
 |
The launch of
a Bolger Micro |
| working on floatation
|
|
 |
The Micro's
accomodations. |
| Pram |
|
“If you want understand something,
do it yourself.”
This saying is usually applied to life; it’s
an invitation to ponder, late at night, the different
voices in our heads that whose conflict can lead to
inaction. But it can also have a more literal meaning.
If you want to understand, “Build” something
yourself. And it’s not a question only of building
an object to know it better, but of building an object
to know yourself better. Which object? In some cases,
and when a client has at his disposal a suitable space,
we recommend he build a boat. A boat is a “strange”
object. It’s not something you can hang on the
wall, it’s not the content of a “do it
yourself” article. A boat is an adventure in
the area of self-esteem and a sense of self-sufficiency.
Build a boat and you’ll feel you have dared.
Sail it and you’ll feel to have won. The reflection
of your success on all the other aspects of your life
will be tangible. In some of our psychotherapies the
building of a boat becomes an intersecting task which
crosses all aspects of the therapy. Boats are generally
built to the plan of Italian or well-known foreign
designers. The plans, which have been bought, can
be used to build only one boat. Many plans can be
bought abroad over the internet or they can be bought
in Italy, in Milan c/o B.C.A.
- Demco Kit.
 |
A student has
begun this Bolger Pirogue for sail or paddle |
| This model airplane
is U-control (the pilot flies the airplane with
cables that control its altitude)... |
|
 |
... It was built
by this group of boys from the Juvenile Prison
“Beccaria” in Milan. It has a wingspan
of two meters. |
| This is the boat
that is being constructed in Bologna by the boys
of the Atlas of Rimini cooperative. |
|
 |
It's probably
Ok to show this sheet with some sketches of
the plan and the boy's names. The boat is Farò:
a B.C.A. Demco
Kit. |
Marco Vinicio Masoni
info@formazione-studio.it
|
