After his identical twin brother was killed in a car accident, Baghat was devastated – agoraphobic with obsessive-compulsive bouts every morning so extreme that by the afternoon he was exhausted. He had extreme paranoia about other people, even children of his own age. He suffered from terrible headaches and spoke in a confused manner unlike a child of his age. He rarely smiled – he had no reason to. 

Tutors from England had sent me to try to help him overcome his problems and help him with his studies: therapists had been of no help. I started by working with his strengths – he was very creative and we began by spending a few weeks doing nothing but build lego models, which he seemed to enjoy and at which he became something of an expert; his designs were extraordinarily imaginative. 

During these Lego weeks we got to know each other in a very relaxed way and he came to trust me. Little by little I introduced very simple studying and he seemed to respond well to this. Of course I had a tremendous advantage over any therapist because I lived with the family full-time and was with Baghat every waking moment of every day. 

Soon his obsessive-compulsive bouts diminished and finally died out. I started taking him on very short walks. We passed other people and he became more and more able to cope with this until we were able to go for longer walks with crowds around. His headaches went away and his speech became normal for a child of his age. 

I spent two years with Baghat until he was able to go back to school and he managed to get accepted by Winchester College. It was a long slow process, getting rid of his psychosomatic problems, building up his confidence and finally restoring a smile to his face. 

He went to his new school full of confidence, never got bullied and turned out into a thoroughly well-rounded young man. Nobody would have ever imagined what traumas he had been through. LM