Play Therapy

1. PlayTherapy • In Schools • 2013 CCPA • Annual Conference • Presenter: Don Chafe • don_chafe@hotmail.com

2. PlayTherapy • Why Play? • Why Therapy? • Why work with children?

3. Why Play? • Most children readily engage in play. • Play is believed to be the natural language of childhood. • Children (and often adults) may lack the verbal ability to describe inner experience. • Play taps “magical thinking” ability.

4. Why Therapy? • Therapy is a corrective experience. • Therapy is about change.

5. Why work with children? • Children are embedded in a social context: • Children in families • Children in schools • Children in communities • Some schools of play therapy deal with these various levels.

6. Why work with children? • Children have internal psychological processes. • These processes can be explored and altered in the therapeutic relationship. • This workshop will focus on therapeutic relationships with children.

7. Some “schools” of play therapy • Non-directive Prescriptive • Psychoanalytic Family • Sand play Group • Filial Therapy Object relations • Jungian Phenomenological • Cognitive-Behavioral Fair Play • Adlerian Time Limited • Theraplay Dynamic • Ecosystemic >>>>>>>>>>>>

8. Non-directive play therapy • Belief system: • Child driven • Child is having difficulties because he /she does not feel accepted / respected • Cure is unconditional positive regard

9. Non-directive play therapy • Therapist behavior and therapeutic techniques: • If you are using a technique you are not doing non-directive therapy • Therapist concentrates on active listening: • Tracking • Reflection of feeling • VERY limited questioning

10. Tracking • What do we reflect? • Play sequences • Child-toy interaction • Project child into play • Child's behavior

11. Tracking • How do we reflect? • Intensity of the therapist's involvement can be varied from light to intense • NOTE: • Reflection of feeling can be similarly varied.

12. Practice • Practice non-directive techniques

13. Non-directive practice Reflect Set limits THE END

14. Setting limits What limits do we set? How do we let the child know the limits? How do we enforce the limits?

15. Gestalt play therapy Based on the adult work of Frederick Perls Gestalt is an “experiential” therapy

16. Gestalt Play Therapy Violet Oaklander (1978). Windows to Our Children Felicia Carroll (student of Oaklander) Gestalt Theory can be taught Heady / esoteric ideas Gestalt Therapy must be experienced Ideas meaningless without experience

17. Gestalt Play Therapy • Belief system: • Therapist driven • I / thou relationship • Therapist encouraged the child to experience all aspects of the self while being totally present in the session • Children experience problems because they lack contact with some aspect of the self or the environment • Cure comes from having child establish contact

18. Gestalt Play Therapy • Therapist behavior and therapeutic techniques: • Experiencing • Sharing • Changing perspective • Identifying with elements • Amplifying • Using non-verbals • Owning emotions

19. Practice • Practice gestalt techniques

20. More info • Canadian Association for Child and Play Therapy (CACPT) • www.cacpt.com • Play Therapy International • www.playtherapy.org