Play Therapy 1a Entering a Child’s World. I.THE CHILD’S WORLD II. THE CHILD’S WORLD IS UNSAFE III. CHILDREN NEED COMPASSIONATE COUNSELORS IV. CHILDREN.

Play Therapy 1aEntering a Child’s World

I. THE CHILD’S WORLD

II. THE CHILD’S WORLD IS UNSAFE

III. CHILDREN NEED COMPASSIONATE COUNSELORS

IV. CHILDREN LONG TO BE HEARD

I. THE CHILD’S WORLD•Their perspective•Innocent + literal thinkers: •(Cognitive vs. affective): •Childhood:

•No financial worries, •job pressures, •societal problems

“The entire range of children’s mental life can and does connect with their religious and spiritual thinking.”

Robert Coles Harvard Child Psychologist

This is not a book about Christian counseling of children. Rather, it is a book about counseling children by entering their world. (Key to this book is not an academic evaluation but a map to enter a child’s world)

I. THE CHILD’S WORLDII. THE CHILD’S WORLD IS UNSAFE

•Children grow and develop where they feel safe.•Divorce

• 50% in and out of the church

•Redbook article•TV Statistic:

•52,000 murders by age 18•(Ethan closing his eyes crying, “Change it, daddy, change it.

•Redbook’s report•In an article in American Psychologist… “Children suffer more victimization than do adults…”

“Are Kids Growing Up too Fast?” “Children are being shortchanged. We hurry them toward independence before they are emotionally ready. Speeding children into adulthood not only makes this world unsafe for them, but it is also a national tragedy with serious consequences. Television, the nation’s leading baby-sitter, contributes to this. Dr. Lee Salk

NY University

“If we really want children to succeed and be productive people, we’ll respect them as human beings and let them grow at their own pace.”

I. THE CHILD’S WORLDII. THE CHILD’S WORLD IS UNSAFEIII. CHILDREN NEED COMPASSIONATE COUNSELORS

•U.S. Office of Technology Assessment: 12% of kids (7.5 million children), are in need of mental health care.

•In the city, 38.5% psychological disturbance. •Only 11% received treatment.

•Only 10% of psychiatrists are committed to working only with kids.

I. THE CHILD’S WORLDII. THE CHILD’S WORLD IS UNSAFEIII. CHILDREN NEED COMPASSIONATE COUNSELORS

5 deficiencies in preparing psychologists for working with kids)

1. Too few developmental and clinical child courses

2. Too little child assessment and therapy training

3. Too little experience with children within a variety of settings

4. Too little supervision5. Too much emphasis on techniques suitable

only for adults

I. THE CHILD’S WORLDII. THE CHILD’S WORLD IS UNSAFEIII. CHILDREN NEED COMPASSIONATE COUNSELORSIV. CHILDREN LONG TO BE HEARD

Play TherapyChildren Communicate Through Play

“Play is child’s work, and this is not a trivial pursuit.”

Alfred Adler

I. CHILDREN COMMNICATE THROUGH PLAYII. THE IMPORTANCE OF PLAYIII. THE THEOLOGY OF PLAYIV. CALLED TO PLAYV. THE DEVELOPMENTAL IMPORTANCE OF PLAY

I. CHILDREN COMMNICATE THROUGH PLAY• Children do communicate through play,

whether or not adults can interpret or understand the play.

• Six years old Larry

I. CHILDREN COMMNICATE THROUGH PLAYSix years old; lived with his mother; parents had split up because father had

physically abused the children and mother.Larry’s primary presenting problem was separation anxiety; simply refused to leave

his mother’s side. Would not go to school; would not sleep alone.Family therapy had helped the mother and sister cope with their difficult

experiences and changes, but Larry continued to have problems.The books to which she had turned for answers also had offered no solutions.Larry was extremely resistant to entering the playroom at first; then he acquiesced.He did not speak to [the psychologist] the whole time. But after 6 sessions, his

mother reported an almost complete cessation of the separation difficulties. Somewhere within the process of being able to express himself in play, Larry was able to emerge from his fixed place of confusion and hurt and move toward healing and emotional health. It is unlikely that trying to get Larry to talk about his troubles would have done any good; indeed, it was unnecessary since the process of play effectively brought healing. As Larry’s case illustrates, play is the way children process and express their emotional lives.

Dr. Garry Landreth, director of Center for Play Therapy at the University of North Texas: “Children’s play can be more fully appreciated when recognized as their natural medium of communication. Children express themselves more fully and more directly through self-initiated spontaneous play than they do verbally because they are more comfortable with play. For children to ‘play out’ their experiences and feelings is the most natural dynamic and self-experiences and feelings is the most dynamic and self-healing process in which children can engage.”

I. CHILDREN COMMNICATE THROUGH PLAYII.THE IMPORTANCE OF PLAY•In their book The Power of Play, Frank Caplan and Theresa Caplan summarize several unique attributes that children find appealing about play:

•Play is a voluntary activity by nature. In a world full of requirements and rules, play is refreshing and provides a respite from everyday tension.•Play is free from evaluation and judgment from adults. Children are safe to make mistakes without failure and adult ridicule.•It encourages fantasy•It increases interest and involvement•Play encourages the development of the physical and mental self

I. CHILDREN COMMNICATE THROUGH PLAYII.THE IMPORTANCE OF PLAY

History shows that children of every era have played•From the Black Plague of the Middle Ages•Nazi concentration camp

I. CHILDREN COMMNICATE THROUGH PLAYII. THE IMPORTANCE OF PLAYChildren not only use play to comfort themselves but also need play to make sense of and bring some order to a nonsensical and out-of-control world.Play forms a valuable bridge between the subjective and objective.

Erik Erikson

Suggested that children use play “to make up for defeats, suffering and frustrations, especially those resulting from a technically and culturally limited use of language.”

Denise and Mark Wenton

“The instinctive method children use for solving problems and mastering conflicts is play. Play is the all-encompassing business of childhood…”

I. CHILDREN COMMNICATE THROUGH PLAYII. THE IMPORTANCE OF PLAYIII. THE THEOLOGY OF PLAYIV. CALLED TO PLAY

Daddy, Where’s God? I want to play with him now!

Andrew Conway

I. CHILDREN COMMNICATE THROUGH PLAYII. THE IMPORTANCE OF PLAYIII. THE THEOLOGY OF PLAYIV. CALLED TO PLAYV. THE DEVELOPMENTAL IMPORTANCE OF PLAY

•Biological, such as hand-eye movement, expending of energy, and kinesthetic stimulation;•Intrapersonal, including a child’s need for function, mastery over situations, and mastery over conflict;•Interpersonal, including a child’s practice of separation and individualization, and learning of social skills; and•Socio-cultural, where children learn about culture and the roles of those around them.

Play Therapy 1bPlay as Therapy

I. PLAY THERAPY AS A FOUNDATIONAL TREATMENT

II. WHAT IS PLAY THERAPY?III. A BRIEF HISTORY OF PLAYIV. APPROACHES TO PLAY THERAPYV. THE BENEFITS OF PLAY THERAPYVI. THE HEALING POWER OF THE RELATIONSHIP

I. PLAY THERAPY AS A FOUNDATIONAL TREATMENT

“Enter into children’s play and you will find the place where their minds, hearts, and

souls meet.” –Virginia Axline

I. PLAY THERAPY AS A FOUNDATIONAL TREATMENT• Mary Ann’s case:

•sexually abused by multiple perpetrators•seriously disturbed, often barking like a dog and biting people. •doctors to treat her with strong antipsychotic medication.• I cannot tell you that play therapy instantly cured Mary Ann. But I can say this-it worked where nothing else had. She played out her anxieties and victimizations. Medications were discontinued. Eventually she was reunited with her mother. •It was a matter of allowing a traumatized child to process unthinkable horrors in her own way, in her own time, and in her own language.

I. PLAY THERAPY AS A FOUNDATIONAL TREATMENT

II. WHAT IS PLAY THERAPY? •Making toys available to children does not constitute play therapy.•Garry Landreth defines play therapy as a “dynamic interpersonal relationship between a child and a therapist trained in play therapy procedures and provides selected play materials and facilitates the development of a safe relationship with a child to fully express and explore self (feelings, thoughts, experiences, and behaviors) through the child’s natural medium of communication, play.”

I. PLAY THERAPY AS A FOUNDATIONAL TREATMENT

II. WHAT IS PLAY THERAPY? •The play therapist should provide selected play materials.•The play therapist must facilitate the development of a safe relationship. •Play therapy provides the opportunity for the child to express and explore self more fully.•Play therapy enables children to use their own natural medium of communication – play.

I. PLAY THERAPY AS A FOUNDATIONAL TREATMENT

II. WHAT IS PLAY THERAPY?III. A BRIEF HISTORY OF PLAY •Sigmund Freud’s case of Little Hans: Freud did not work directly with the five – year – old boy, but he advised Han’s father about the different ways to respond to him. Freud He used the father’s notes about Hans’s play as a basis for interpretation and counsel.

I. PLAY THERAPY AS A FOUNDATIONAL TREATMENT

II. WHAT IS PLAY THERAPY?III. A BRIEF HISTORY OF PLAY •Sigmund Freud’s•The Center for Play Therapy at the University of North Texas is a clearinghouse of play therapy literature, featuring more than 2000 journal articles and books about the field.

I. PLAY THERAPY AS A FOUNDATIONAL TREATMENT

II. WHAT IS PLAY THERAPY?III. A BRIEF HISTORY OF PLAYIV. APPROACHES TO PLAY THERAPY

Examine the three leading approaches—•Psychoanalytic•Jungian•Child – centered

Examine the three leading approaches—•Psychoanalytic•Jungian•Child – centered

Examine the three leading approaches—•Psychoanalytic

Psychoanalytic play therapy finds its roots in Sigmund Freud’s case of Little Hans; Anna Freud used play as a means of promoting children’s verbalizations, while Klein believed that children’s play was equivalent to the free associations of adult clients. Anna Freud’s approach has dominated the psychoanalytic approach to play therapy in this country

Examine the three leading approaches—•Psychoanalytic•Jungian

Jungian (Carl Jung): this approach to play therapy is based on the work of Jung and his personality theory of the ego, the personal unconscious, and the collective unconscious.The Jungian therapist is also both observer and participant, maintaining an “analytical attitude to reflect on and comment about the psychological issues with which the child is struggling.”Interpretation is considered important and is facilitated by comments and questions by the therapist.

Examine the three leading approaches—•Psychoanalytic•Jungian•Child – centered

Child-centered approach, based on theory by Carl Rogers: the child-centered approach is based on the client-centered work of Carl Rogers and was developed primarily by Virginia Axline. The premise is that we all have within ourselves the ability to solve our own problems and that we have within us the innate striving for mature versus immature behavior.The role of the child-centered therapist is to facilitate the client’s growth, and as such, the counselor does not lead or take responsibility for the direction of the play.

I. PLAY THERAPY AS A FOUNDATIONAL TREATMENT

II. WHAT IS PLAY THERAPY?III. A BRIEF HISTORY OF PLAYIV. APPROACHES TO PLAY THERAPYV. THE BENEFITS OF PLAY THERAPY

“play has the power not only to facilitate normal child development but also to alleviate abnormal behavior.”

Dr. Charles Schaefer

His list of benefits for Play Therapy

Overcoming resistance. Play draws children, involuntarily clients, into a working alliance.

Communication. Play is the natural medium of self-expression.

Mastery. Play satisfies children’s need to explore and master the environment.

Creative thinking. Play encourages children to improve problem-solving skills.

Catharsis. In play, children can release intense emotions that have been difficult of impossible to confront.

Abreaction. Children can process and assimilate trauma by reliving it with an appropriate expression of emotion.Role-play. Children have the opportunity to try out alternative behaviors.Fantasy. Play enhances the use of the child’s imaginations to make sense of and overcome painful reality.Metaphoric teaching. Children can experience adaptive solutions for their conflicts and fears through metaphor.Relationship enhancement. Play facilitates a positive therapeutic relationship.Enjoyment. Children fundamentally enjoy play.Mastering developmental fears. Repeated play experiences help reduce anxiety and fear through systematic desensitization.Game play. Games assist children in socialization and developing ego controls.

Abreaction. Children can process and assimilate trauma by reliving it with an appropriate expression of emotion.

Role-play. Children have the opportunity to try out alternative behaviors.

Fantasy. Play enhances the use of the child’s imaginations to make sense of and overcome painful reality.

Metaphoric teaching. Children can experience adaptive solutions for their conflicts and fears through metaphor.Relationship enhancement. Play facilitates a positive therapeutic relationship.Enjoyment. Children fundamentally enjoy play.Mastering developmental fears. Repeated play experiences help reduce anxiety and fear through systematic desensitization.Game play. Games assist children in socialization and developing ego controls.

Metaphoric teaching. Children can experience adaptive solutions for their conflicts and fears through metaphor.

Relationship enhancement. Play facilitates a positive therapeutic relationship.

Enjoyment. Children fundamentally enjoy play.Mastering developmental fears. Repeated play experiences help reduce anxiety and fear through systematic desensitization.

Game play. Games assist children in socialization and developing ego controls.

V. THE BENEFITS OF PLAY THERAPY Garry Landreth asserts that play therapy helps the child:

•Develop a more positive self-concept•Assume greater self-responsibility•Become more self-directing•Become more self-accepting•Become more self-reliant•Engage in self-determined decision making•Experience a feeling of control•Become sensitive to the process of coping•Develop an internal source of evaluation•Become more trusting of self

I. PLAY THERAPY AS A FOUNDATIONAL TREATMENT

II. WHAT IS PLAY THERAPY?III. A BRIEF HISTORY OF PLAYIV. APPROACHES TO PLAY THERAPYV. THE BENEFITS OF PLAY THERAPYVI. THE HEALING POWER OF THE RELATIONSHIP

Anthony and I Playing with the Lego CastleStart to playCrashed into the castle and destroyed it over and

over.

Play Therapy 1cPlay Therapy in Action

I. WORKING WITH PARENTSII. INTIAL MEETING WITH PARENTSIII. THE PLAYROOM AND MATERIALSIV. THE PLAYROOMV. WHAT ABOUT TOY WEAPONS IN THE PLAYROOM?

I. WORKING WITH PARENTS

Parents or Guardians: in traditional therapy, the parents of clients may be only indirectly involved or not involved at all. In play therapy, however, parents will inevitably be a part of the process. It is frequently parents who initiate counseling. Most parents want to monitor the progress of their child’s therapy.

I. WORKING WITH PARENTS

Parents or Guardians:

Play therapist Terry Kottman writes: “parents are invaluable sources of information about the child’s developmental history and interactional patterns.

I. WORKING WITH PARENTSII.INTIAL MEETING WITH PARENTS

first session is always with the parents

One danger in the gathering this information is that it is tempting to rely on the assessment data rather than to use clinical skills and intuition.

Questions parents will have:•How often will the child becoming to sessions?•How long will each session be?•How much will each session cost? •Will we talk to the play therapist? When and for how long?•What will go on during an actual session?•Will we get to hear all about it? •When can we expect to see the effects of the treatment?•How will we know if treatment is working?•How long will treatment take from assessment to termination?

I. WORKING WITH PARENTSII. INTIAL MEETING WITH PARENTSIII.THE PLAYROOM AND MATERIALS

“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play then in a year of conversation.” --Plato

“See Handout”

I. WORKING WITH PARENTSII. INTIAL MEETING WITH PARENTSIII. THE PLAYROOM AND MATERIALSIV. THE PLAYROOMV. WHAT ABOUT TOY WEAPONS IN THE PLAYROOM?

Do’s and Don’ts of Play Therapy for the Therapist

Don’t•Don’t criticize any behavior.•Don’t praise the child.•Don’t ask any leading questions.•Don’t allow interruptions of the session.•Don’t offer information or teach.•Don’t preach.•Don’t initiate new activities.•Don’t be passive or quiet.

Do’s and Don’ts of Play Therapy for the Therapist

Do•Do set the stage.•Do let the child lead.•Do track behavior.•Do reflect the child’s feelings.•Do set limits.•Do salute the child’s power and effort.•Do join in the play as a follower.•Do be verbally active.