How Therapotamus got its name.

“I’m like a hippopotamus!” The room fills with laughter as the group of teen participants responds to this proclamation from a kid on the couch. It started off as a game of “Would You Rather” be this animal or that animal and morphed into a deep dive into animals that represented each member of the group.

The couch kid advocated his position by producing hippo facts to explain his choice. Here are some: They look like they shouldn’t be able to swim, but they can. They graze on land at night and hang out in the water in the daytime. They look like they could eat you, but they prefer plants. They seem all cute and docile, but they are extremely territorial and will fight to protect their pod members.

“Huh! ", said the leader of laughter. “ I’m like a hippo too. I look slow but you don’t want to fight me.” Others agreed they could relate to the hippopotamus. One pod member who had said nothing until the moment he announced “ If we are all hippos and you’re our therapist, that makes you a Therapotamus!”

“Brilliant” I replied. I was feeling all warm and fuzzy as more laughter ensued. When it quieted, he spoke up again and nonchalantly commented, “Well, you are grey like a hippo!” Okay, so I have grey(ish) hair. Still I embraced my newly assigned title and applauded the teen for his great observational skills and creativity. And then we all had a snack because hippos like snacks and so do teens.