Blanco is the name given to the monkey doll from the My Blanco collection.

Blanco, how can I possibly explain how beneficial this little monkey has been to my clients? The following are just a few examples of how Blanco has working in the lives of my young clients. (Different names used to protect their identity)

The first client that worked with Blanco had abuse issues. Her father had sexually abused her when she was around two years of age. Once mom realized what was occurring, she removed the little girl from his care. Yet, the court insisted on visitation. It took a forensic counselor to stop this situation from continuing. Although the interaction with her father had stopped, the damage was done. Stephanie was ten when she first came in for counseling and she was a very outgoing child until it was time to talk about her father. At that point she would shut down. After several months of trying to get Stephanie to open up, to no avail, Blanco was introduced into her life. It was then that Stephanie began to let out her frustration and anger. She would draw all over Blanco and the pictures would vary in their intensity. Stephanie would throw Blanco across the room and yell and scream at him. Finally after several months, Stephanie was able to talk about what happened and her healing began. It was at that point that she was able to say that she was done with Blanco and thanked him for his help in her recovery.

The second client that benefited from Blanco was four year old Matthew. He was brought in by his father. Matthew’s father was very concerned about his son because he would return from visits with his mother and state strange things. Dad stated that one time he came home and stated that his mother gave him beer and that he preferred juice. After several sessions Matthew began to talk about “flame”. He would state that “flame” was mean to him and that “flame” would hurt him. At that point Blanco came in to the picture. Matthew would fight Blanco at first and he would always name him “flame.” Eventually Matthew would begin to draw “owies” on Blanco. After he would draw and owie, Matthew would want me to put a Band-Aid on it. I would draw a Band-Aid, and he would continue to draw the “owies”. One day Matthew came in and stated that his mommy had kicked him in the head. He then showed me the welt on his head. After several calls to the child protective services agency, for this incident and several others, nothing happened. Dad went back to court and the judge would do nothing to protect this little boy. Dad contacted the police and a detective was to interview Matthew. I suggested that Dad take Blanco with him and he did. The detective began the interview by talking and having Matthew draw, she was unable to get him to open up at all. The detective then decided to bring Blanco out. Matthew began to draw. As he drew he told the detective all the things that his mother had done and showed her where his mother and her boyfriend had been hitting him. He also confirmed that “flame” was the boyfriend. Blanco gave this little boy a voice and that voice aided in removing him from an abusive situation.

Finally, I am working with a young boy that is going through a very difficult divorce situation. Nate is five and his parents divorced approximately two years ago. His father is very angry with the situation and tends to put Nate in the middle. Nate uses Blanco to express his anger. He will throw him around the room and then draw blood on him. Nate will then resurrect him and give him muscles and then throw him around the room again. At times Nate will ask that I will fight him with Blanco so that he can beat him up. Blanco has been a great help with Nate in expressing and releasing the anger that he feels at what he is going through.