By Paul Wanio, PhD, LMFT For children, there is a fine line between fantasy and reality. Their imaginations are very powerful and they may see unreal monsters that live in closets or under beds which inspire real fears. They will also believe that their thoughts can cause real events to happen "magically." For example, if a child is angry at one of his/her parents and that parent is hurt or has an accident, the child may feel secretly guilty and responsible for "causing" the accident (or divorce) because of having "bad" thoughts, "ill feelings" or "nasty wishes" about Mommy or Daddy. In believing that a person can cause things to happen just by thinking or wishing it, "magical thinking" serves a special purpose for the child. It helps the child to feel a sense of power and control over life. ("If I can make bad things happen, I can also

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