El Chavo del Ocho is a Mexican TV show many of us grew up with that was created by Roberto Gomez Bolaños by Roberto Gómez Bolañ. The show aired since the early 1970’s and ended in 1980. The main character was the witty and adventures Chavo who lived in a barrel in a “vecindad” which was a low income housing community in Mexico City. It had a catchy theme song that to this day I can hear it in my head as it makes me remember sitting with my family enjoying our beloved show that brought us some great laughs. The ironic thing is that if you really think about it Chavos story was sad as he was an orphan, homeless and often bullied by the other kids. In spite of the sad reality Chavo faced Whenever the show has come up in therapy with my clients I often see smiles and stories about the show and their favorite characters. Conversations about the show would often come up after I got a couple of the characters figures from a Mexican candy jar I got at a local store in town. After I noticed how much love there was in particular for The “ chavo” figure I decided to buy a set of all the characters from Mexico. It’s always fascinating to see what characters we are mostly drawn to and to explore the stories that the images may trigger. In therapy this could often be a way to build rapport or move into a deeper conversation that might help process important issues to my clients. I myself completed my own Sandplay process and I always found it fascinating to see what figures I was drawn to. What is your favorite Chavo del Ocho character?
