Child Counseling inverventions
In child counseling interventions, some types of therapies can be used, namely play therapy, storytelling therapy, art therapy, music therapy and biblical therapy.
Play therapy
Play therapy is a technique in which the natural expression of a child is used as a therapeutic way to help the child deal with trauma and stress. This type of therapy has been used effectively with children with an understanding level of three (3) to five (5) years. Among the problems faced by these children are they have family problems such as divorced parents, disagreements between siblings, as well as those who have nail biting habits, urinate during sleep, violence, socially unfocused, Victims of child abuse and others. Other
If play is a child's language, then toys can be taken as the words. With play therapy the child can resolve their difficulties and concerns utilizing the toys that they pick, exposing their inner thoughts and discussions. With play the child has the ability to check out numerous circumstances and habits in a supportive environment. Genuine favorable regard and approval urges the child to feel safe adequate to be able to discover
10). According to Landreth (2012), “Play therapy… facilitates the development of a safe relationship for the child… to fully express and explore self (feelings, thoughts, experiences, and behaviors) through play, the child’s natural medium of communication, for optimal growth and development”
Children often face various mental health issues when they are growing up. These issues include anxiety, trauma, depression and now even autistic children. Treating young children of these conditions has been a great challenge over time. Therapy can help give children the opportunity to express their feelings through play. According to the Association for Play Therapy (2002), play therapy is a "systematic use of a theoretical model to establish an interpersonal process in which trained play therapists use the therapeutic powers of play to help clients prevent or resolve psychosocial difficulties and achieve optimal growth and development." Although various studies have been conducted in regards to play research, there is no link that has been given between play therapy and the success of an individual later in life.
Often, elementary school counselors are reluctant to suggest play therapy and have perceived barriers to its efficacy. This study surveyed 259 members of the American School Counselor Association about those barriers to implementing play therapy, and the potential solutions that could be used to overcome any reluctance. The typical barriers are logical: training, administration, time, resources, and space. It is not that the counselors as a whole do not believe in play therapy, it is that they cannot always find appropriate resources to implement the tool. The study raises the awareness that in the contemporary school in which budgets and resources are extremely tight, more training, educating faculty and administrators, and even using alternative or personal funds to purchase play therapy materials are often necessary to help students.
In discussing the difficulty in organizing his book, Golden (2002) explains, “It would be nice if I could pigeonholed each case as illustrative of a single counseling method, but real-life cases just don’t work that way” (p. x). MacGill (2017) agrees with this assessment by Golden (2002), which she demonstrates in her self-described “eclectic approach to play therapy.”
Using the historically noted context of the importance of play, many therapists have refined and structured this “natural language” and have been able to facilitate desirable change for a variety of issues. The rest of this paper aims at providing the reader with a proficient overview of play therapy. The benefits, history, credentials, inner workings, and role of the family will be examined. Classical cases, as well as individual case studies, and larger scale findings will be examined, and the role and credentials of the therapist outlined.
The topic of this book is how play therapy can help a child who has been in isolation, and self-discovery. Axline supports this view in various ways throughout the book. She explains her reasoning for not interrupting Dibs and gives many examples of using counseling skills. Axline’s style is formal and the chapters are clearly organized. There is a chapter for each play therapy session. She describes Dibs’ activities captivatingly, making the book engaging to read and showing that she, too, is engaged with Dibs (counsellorjen/wordpress).
In which, one who offers therapy to individuals, who have experienced trauma must receive specialized training to provide treatment to people suffering from being subjected to traumatic events. Moreover, the department provides play therapy for children not yet old enough to adequately verbalize abuse they may have endured. This form of treatment allows children to process the events through play with implements such as specialized dolls, and artistic
Parent involvement as a tool in intervention strategies is a resource that needs to be used more frequently when working with children with autism. The roll of the parent in autism interventions strategies such as Pivotal Response Training (PRT), allows the child the greatest form of reinforcement and interaction in that of their parent. This consistence resource needs to be utilized when implementing intervention strategies for a child with autism. The lack of verbal communication is strong among children with autism and many interventions focus on the ability to increase these skills. The study titled, "Pivotal Response Group Treatment Program for Parents of Children with Autism" written by Mendy Minjarez et al., focuses on 24 parents learning
When I think about the word “play therapy”, I think of it as a tool or a way to help out another individual or child express their anxieties and conflicts through play in a therapeutic setting. In class, the introductory handout on “Playful Thoughts” was a useful way to capture moments from childhood that would emphasize either happy or unhappy play memories. From one of the questions in the handout, a moment I would never forget would be when I accidentally stapled my hand at the age of four, when I was trying to staple a couple of pages back to a coloring book. A couple of students in class discussed their experience; and their experiences were mixed, as in some described happier moments, while others discussed sadder moments. In class we
Parental substance abuse is something that both directly and indirectly affects a child. Intervention programs have been designed to help eliminate certain risk factors that some adolescents are prone to if they live with at least one parent who has some type of substance abuse problem. Intervention programs vary in many different types and styles. Some intervention programs focus on individuals and others focus on communities or the entire family as as unit. A study done by Lewis, A. J., Holmes, N., Watkins, B., & Mathers, D. (2015) focused on trying to answer whether or not intervention programs aided in reducing the outcomes of parental substance abuse. For this study, the intervention program of focus was named Supporting Kids and
Therapeutic play, (including play therapy) , is a well established discipline predicated upon a number of psychological theories. Research, both qualitative and quantitative shows that it is highly efficacious in many cases. Recent research by PTUK, an organisation affiliated to PTI, suggests that 71% of the children referred to play therapy will show a positive change. A safe, confidential and caring environment is engendered which sanctions the child to play with as few limits as possible but as many as indispensable (for physical and emotional safety). This sanctions rejuvenating to occur on many calibers following our natural inner trend towards health. Play and ingeniousness operate on impulses from outside our cognizance - the insensate.
This is a treatise devoted to the dynamic psychotherapeutic treatment of children. In this therapy, talking and play are used to ameliorate disorders in adjustment.
The information that stood out to me this week was the discussion of culturally grounded intervention work with families. I think it so important to incorporate the family units in to our work. I previously worked in a family intervention program and we ensured that we always included the client’s family in our assessments. Social connections are a very important protective factor and the inclusion of immediate and extended family is essential if we want to help individuals and/or families meet their goals. What also stood out to me is the ability to understand that a client’s family unit may differ from your own and that the social worker should be open to this. Some individuals lack blood relatives, but view others as just as important.
Children explore and learn about their world through play. Play therapy allows children to communicate there awareness about what’s going on in their world. Furthermore, play therapy to children is similar to what psychotherapy is to adults, it supports children in expressing and exploring thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Play therapy supports the children in discussing feelings in a calm and safe environment using toys to communicate their life perspectives. The premise behind play therapy is that children can use toys to transfer their anxieties, fears, fantasies, and guilt toward toys instead of their peers or families. The structured environment of play therapy creates a safe place, and through the process of play the children feel free to share feelings, since play empowers children, it may support in the children in distancing themselves from traumatic events and