Spike's Post-Treatment Experiences

Play therapy is a form of therapy where children can’t act out their fantasies and express their feelings or experiences and are simply encouraged to do so through play, abetted by a therapist's interpretations.

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”

Therapists' Attitudes in the Field. International Journal of Play Therapy. 20 (2): 51-65, DOI: 10.1037/z0023410.

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.

In their sessions together, Dr Axline integrates the principles of non-directive play therapy. Her psychological approach to children was based on most of the humanistic concepts of

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).

The success of play therapy achieved in the end was uplifting. Throughout the story, my emotions were on a roller coaster. I was engrossed in the techniques of Axline’s approach and the gradual development of Dibs’ personality. His improvement was evident and I felt joyous each time he demonstrated strength and hope. In the beginning, Dibs was resistant to leaving the Child Guidance Center because he feared going home to an emotionally absent environment. Soon, he began accepting the fact that when the hour ended he had to leave. An endearing moment happened when Dibs told Axline that he would return the following Thursday to “fill up again with happiness” (Axline, 1964, p. 133). The playroom was a special place where Dibs could express himself without limitation, and his liberation was refreshing.

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.

The setting in which my personal theory of therapy will take place is within an education school setting. Current research has claimed that utilizing APT is helpful in decreasing concerning behaviour within elementary students (Kottman and Ashby, 2015). In developing my personalized therapeutic orientation, an IPT approach was established, focusing on both non-directive and directive play therapy to support the complex needs of clients (Gil, Konrath, Shaw, Goldin, & McTaggart Bryan, 2015). This is helpful to meet the needs of a varying population of clients with differing needs and abilities within a school setting. This is highlighted as helpful for this population by Gil, Konrath, Shaw, Goldin, & McTaggart Bryan (2015) indicating that child-centered

For some, play appears to be a child-specific occurrence associated with the healthy development of a child. However, when it becomes a therapeutic tool, there is limited exposure to fall on. Thus, we are wondering how therapeutic play works in the professional setting. Christina Brown in her discussion of how play is the innate mechanism of expression and communication of a developing child address not only benefits of play, but specific cases where play was the therapeutic tool that overturned positive treatment outcomes. Moreover, this is not play therapy. The cases she provided were not performed in a psychological setting or to render specific psychological benefits. In fact, the cases she uses to bolster her claims demonstrate the therapeutic

Schaefer and Drewes address in their book how to implement a play therapy program in school settings, play-based prevention programs, individual play therapy approaches as well as group play and play therapy with special needs children, such as mute, homeless and autistic children. They also discuss cognitive-behavioral play therapy, trauma-focused group work and training teachers to use play therapy. The two experts talk about how play is not only essential for promoting normal child development, but how it also has many therapeutic powers as well. All of these therapies require the formation of a therapeutic relationship along with some sort of medium to exchange the therapy between the child and the therapist. The general use of play helps

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.

"Play in therapy is the child 's mode of communication, for sharing his world, his inner thoughts and feelings, and the meanings that he makes of his experience of his world"(Cochran, Nordling, & Cochran, 2010, p. 4). Play therapy is all about the child. The counselor working with these children in play therapy have to understand how important it is to do their best to keep these sessions as child-centered as possible. This is the child 's opportunity to explore themselves and have the freedom to do so. This environment lets the children feel empowered. In play therapy, it is important they feel self-determined and have control. They also need to express their self-expression through play. Through this, they can express any emotion. Children do not always get the freedom to express themselves freely and this is the one place where they are allowed to do so. Many children from all different backgrounds attend play therapy. There are so many situations that children tend to go through and experience which leads them to going to therapy. One of these situations would be trauma.

In the selected case study, The mode of therapeutic intervention will take the Gestalt Play Therapy focus. The interaction between Jacob and I will be an open dialogue with straightforward caring, warmth, acceptance, and self-responsibility that specifically focuses on inclusion, with me fully present in the experience of Jacob, where I will not judge, analyze, or interpret what is observed. My presence refers to expressing observations, preferences, feelings, personal experience, and thoughts to Jacob. Commitment to dialogue will present the opportunity to encourage a sense of connection between Jacob and me. Our dialogue will be active and nonverbal or verbal. It can be any modality that expresses and moves