Play Based Therapy Essay

When I was 18, I was involved in a car accident that almost took my life, this caused me to fall into depressive state while I attended college. The depression was due to not knowing who I was as a person without football. Before the accident every aspect of my life revolved around the sport, and I was highly scouted to come the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and play football. It was this whirlwind of emotions constantly plaguing my mind by being immersed in a place that reminded me of something that I could no longer experience. With the assistance of a counselor at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, I was able to begin healing. This was a turning point in my life, and it was these sessions that sparked my interest in the field of psychology.

Children develop normally when they are exposed to different types of play that allow them to express themselves while using their imaginations and being physically active. According to the Center for Health Education, Training and Nutrition Awareness, “Play is child’s work”; this is true because it is a child’s job is to learn and develop in their first few years of life, in order for them to do this, they play (CHETNA). Not only is playing a child’s full time job, the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights listed play as a right of every child (Ginsburg). Through their full time job of play, the children develop emotionally, socially, physically, and creatively. Children need to participate in child-led play in order to

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.

The purpose behind the article “Efficacy of Brief Quantitative Measures of Play for Screening for Autism Spectrum Disorders” by Rodman et al. (2010) was to use the measures from a study done by Yoder and Stone in 2006 and another study by Yoder in 2006, that had been shown to be associated with communication and language and determine if those measures could be used to validly predict an Autism Spectrum diagnosis. This study was the first of its type, by comparing the performance on these measures of children with ASD to those of typically developing children. In order to make the case of the studies importance the authors provided the readers with several facts. Such as, the need for screening measures that are quick and effective for detecting ASD with young children (Rodman et al., 2010). Other facts like, clinical judgment remaining the gold standard in diagnosing ASD being problematic in its subjectivity. Another was a statistical fact from a study done by Wiggins et al, in 2006 that identified that 24% of 115 eight year old children had not received their diagnosis of ASD until they were of school age, when

Play is an occupation in which all children should engage in to enhance development. Play should be enjoyable, fun, impulsive and naturally motivating. When children engage in play, they are able to discover their surrounding environments, experiment with ideas, and learn from experience (Garvey, 1977; Rubin, Fein & Vandenberg, 1983; Smith & Vollstedt, 1985, as cited by Mastrangelo, 2009). Due to social, cognitive and emotional difficulties, children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are unable to develop play skills at the same rate as children without

Common concerns among therapists are mental health problems for children with intellectual disabilities. Many children with intellectual disabilities deal with neglect, abuse and in some cases, being institutionalized. Behavior therapists claim that these children display problem behavior to obtain and avoid attention, avoid tasks and internal stimulation (Swan, K.L., & Ray, D. C., 2014). Past studies suggest that adult-directed interventions might hinder children’s task mastery and drive. Child-centered play therapy (CCPT) is an intervention strategy that foster’s children’s direction, self-regulation and choice. Research shows that play therapy increases a child’s self-concepts, language development and external behavior functioning. Although

Play is a way for children to learn about their environment and how interaction occurs within. It is through trial and error that children are able to create options; follow their own interests and show “independence in thought and actions” using their knowledge and understanding (Moyles, 2005, p.3). Children develop resilience though play. However for a number of children can experience stressful occurrences during their lives and play can often be restricted. Therefore the play worker’s role in supporting children’s play is a crucial measure towards children's development. For those that work with children require the dexterity to prompt and contribute to children’s play, which can be seen as a principle aspect of therapeutic alliance.

Expressive arts therapy is different from the traditional psychotherapy which a nonverbal therapy. It is using the multiple disciplines such as dance, drama, music, poetry and visual arts form approach for facilitating growth and healing. It is within the context of psychotherapy, counseling, rehabilitation, or medicine and its combine psychology approaches to psychotherapy for healing people, as well it benefits for all age’s group people who are not good to present himself or herself.

Play therapy is an effective intervention for a broad range of children’s problems in various medical settings, across modalities, across age, and gender. The questions I would like to have answered: is play therapy more or less effective regarding gender and age? In addition, an investigate of different theoretical and technical approaches to play therapy and effect on children’s outcome related to theses factors would address the question which treatment is most effective with which clients, under what circumstances?

The play treatment provides the child with ways of conveying feelings, disclose experiences, and communicate desires. Why counselors use toys in their practice is because it helps the child express their feelings that they cannot put into words. The material professionals use are puppets, art, dolls, construction, animals, or play dough (Newsome & Gladding, 2014, p. 311). To support Newsomes and Gladding (2014) research, Vondracek and Corneal (1995) state how play therapy is an essential component for child counseling. Counseling a child with social anxiety through play therapy can establish an alliance between the counselor and the child. In addition to building an alliance, it can assist a child to work through the anxiety symptoms by directing the child through the situations that they feel the most anxiety in (Vondracek & Corneal, 1995, p.178-179). A way a counselor can gain information about the child’s anxiety is through drawing or painting. A counselor can ask the child to draw what people, places, or things trigger their

Play is the business of childhood, allowing your child free rein to experiment with the world around him and the emotional world inside him, says Linda Acredolo, professor of psychology at the University of California at Davis and co-author of Baby Signs: How to Talk With Your Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk and Baby Minds: Brain-Building Games Your Baby Will Love. While it may look like mere child's play to you, there's a lot of work — problem solving, skill building, overcoming physical and mental challenges — going on behind the scenes. Here are some of the things your child is experiencing and learning, along with ideas on how you can help boost the benefits of his play. Play builds the

Gestalt therapy is a type of therapy used to deepen our awareness of ourselves. According to O’Connor and Braverman, (2009) “Gestalt" implies wholeness. “Gestalt therapy is a process-oriented, experiential therapy that is concerned with the integrated functioning of all aspects of the person: senses, body, emotions and intellect.”

In the role play, I am an elderly South Asian immigrant grandparent (Baba – in this role play) with significant medical problems, arrived in Canada just two months ago. His wife passed away six months back, mentally disturbed and hoping to have some emotional support from his only son who migrated to Canada 16 years back. Baba is also sick, needs to consult a doctor and looking for a quite corner in the apartment where he can live without any disturbances.

Before we can understand what expressive art therapy is, however, an understanding of terms, like imagination and creativity, is necessary. There is a lack of consensus about how imagination and creativity are defined and who is capable of it. In therapeutic contexts, the essence of imagination is the substance of dreams. Dreams, however, are not just images. In dreams, sounds, rhythms, acts, etc. can be perceived in a sensory or experiential way (Levine & Levine, 2004). Creativity springs from imagination and is understood in terms of its qualities and characteristics: spontaneity, playfulness, motivation, originality, self-expression, inventiveness, divergent thinking, and intuition. Creativity pushes limits, breaks down barriers, and

Gestalt therapy is a type of therapy used to deepen our awareness of ourselves. According to O’Connor and Braverman, (2009) “Gestalt" implies wholeness. Gestalt can also be considered as the essence, or shape of a complete form. A theoretical opposite of structuralism, the entity constitutes more than the sum of its parts. Gestalt therapy is comprised of a complex psychological system that stresses the development of client self-awareness and personal responsibility through a process-oriented, experiential and phenomenological modality that addresses the totality of an individual in terms of senses, body, emotions and intellect.” In an active process, suppressed feelings can be explored in depth and through understanding of the how