Final project
fadoo
BielekPlayTherapy.pptPlay Therapy
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History of Play Therapy
- Sigmund Freud first used PT in 1909
- Carl Rogers introduced person-centered theory
- Virginia Axline-created non-directive play therapy
- Current definition
- "the systematic use of a theoretical model to establish an interpersonal process wherein trained play therapists use the therapeutic powers of play to help clients prevent or resolve psychosocial difficulties and achieve optimal growth and development."
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HTP
- Buck
- 1948
- Administration
The Association for Play Therapy (APT)
- 1982 to foster contact among mental health professionals interested in exploring and, when developmentally appropriate, applying the therapeutic power of play to communicate with and treat clients, particularly children.
What is Child-Centered Play Therapy
- Restate what the child says (if anything)
- Reflect feeling and content
- Set limits in the playroom that prohibit the student from hurting self, you, or materials
- Emphasis on the child and the natural way that a child can work out an issue
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- Children’s natural language is play. Play is a developmentally appropriate way that children express themselves. (Axline and Landreth)
- Play is a natural way for children to express feelings/emotions (Drewes)
- Many children learn through hands-on activities and movement (Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences)
- Play therapy matches with Piaget’s theory of cognitive development (Ray et. Al, 2005)
- Preoperational stage (ages 2-7): language skills are not as developed as internal awareness
- Concrete Operations Stage (ages 8-11): limits in abstract reasoning- play helps bridge gap between concrete experience and abstract thought
Practical applications in the school
- Play therapy can be used to assist in GEIS and IEPs to inform classroom observations and social-emotional analysis
Solution Focused Brief Therapy
It works well for clients and cultures who like a fast, no-nonsense, down-to-earth approach and who are not interested in the cognitive, behavioral or affective components of a problem.
- Places emphasis on the future rather than the present or past.
- All people are free to make choices.
- Client’s are their own experts who know what is best for them.
- The therapist accepts the client's view of reality.
Solution Focused Brief Therapy
- Places emphasis on the future rather than the present or past.
- All people are free to make choices.
- Client’s are their own experts who know what is best for them.
- The therapist accepts the client's view of reality.
Solution Focused Brief Therapy
- “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”: The client determines the goals of counseling, not the therapist.
- “Once you know what works, do more of it”: This helps the client see positive behaviors and reinforces proactive behaviors.
- “If it’s broke, do something to fix it. If it doesn’t work, don’t do it again”: If it is not working there is no need to try it again.
De Shazer’s Miracle
Suppose that one night, while you are asleep, there is a miracle and the problem that brought you here is solved. However, because you are asleep you don't know that the miracle has already happened. When you wake up in the morning, what will be different that will tell you that the miracle has taken place? What else?
De Shazer’s Miracle
What difference would you (& others) notice?
What are the first things you notice?
Has any of this ever happened before?
Would it help to recreate any of these miracles?
What would need to happen to do this?
The Nightmare Question:
Think about having a terrible nightmare where your problem was amplified.
What would be happening to let you know your nightmare came true?
This might be used when client minimizes or denies his or her problem.
Techniques: Tracking
- The counselor is an observer
- The counselor restates what the child is doing without adding negative or positive statements
- Children are allowed to process on their own without counselor interpretation
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Experiential Activity with Tracking and Reflection
- What did you notice from the client’s play?
- What themes can you draw from it?
- What would you write in notes about the child?
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Directive Play Therapy
- Directive = Counselor leads or guides session
- Creative activities are used to guide counseling sessions in order to gauge the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of the client
- Goal oriented
- Allows for specific evidence of change and growth in the child
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Techniques: Cognitive Behavioral Play Therapy
- The emphasis is on developing new, more adaptive thoughts and behaviors
- The counselor uses techniques to guide student in using more helpful coping strategies to deal with problems
- Pairs concrete examples with abstract ideas and emotions
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Experiential Activity: Balloons
- How did the activity help explain the thought-feeling connection?
- For which developmental levels is this appropriate?
- How can this activity help the counselor/student with goal setting?
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Applying play into your Counseling
- Play, art, story-telling, and music can be integrated with multiple theoretical approaches
- Play can be used as a medium within a counseling session to bring ease to any aged child
- Middle and high school students may even long for a modality of expression other than spoken language
- Direct questions do not always produce direct responses
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Who is using Play Therapy
- In 2005, 105 counseling graduate programs in the US offered at least one course in play therapy
- In 2005, 978 school counselors from ACA and APT were surveyed about their theoretical background and 66.6% responded child-centered with cognitive behavioral in second at 9.2%
- Of those responding to the survey, the average number of graduate courses taken in Play Therapy was 1.5
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Who is using Play Therapy
- Elementary school counselors were survey about opinions of Play Therapy (381 School Counselors)
- 97% of the school counselors believed that play was the natural language of a child
- In a qualitative section responders indicated that limitations to using Play Therapy in schools included lack of time with students and lack of training (2005)
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Balloons of Anger
Nurf Game
Butterflies and Anxiety
Blocks
Bubbles
Sand Tray, Puppets, Jenga
Cotton Balls
- Group/Family Work
Sand Tray Therapy
- Sandplay Therapy is often used with those who have suffered some form of trauma, neglect, or abuse.
- The client chooses from a large collection of toys and builds a small “world” in the tray that reflects what is going on in their lives.
- The therapist observes the choice and arrangement of toys without interruption, allowing the person to find answers within themselves.
- The client and therapist analyze and discuss the client’s toy choices, their arrangement pattern in the sand, and their symbolic or metaphoric meanings.
- Sandplay therapy may consist of a single session or last as long as several years.
Dora Kalff
- Sandplay therapy was developed in the late 1950s
- Jungian training and Eastern philosophical beliefs.
- The scene creation phase, in which clients arrange their minatures in the tray, is very important and is central to the sandtray therapy experience.
- In humanistic sandtray therapy, the processing phase helps clients to focus on the sandtray scene and their inner experiencing as they explore their scene.
Final Thoughts
- Play therapy allows children to process and proceed at their own pace
- Developmentally appropriate
- Works with culturally diverse children, labeled children, and those experiencing trauma
- Graduate students should be aware of and trained in play therapy to face the needs they will encounter in the school/clinical system
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