Unstructured Play Therapy

play therapy experiences for children to help reduce anxiety and fear. Additionally, they can help

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

Haslam, D., Harris, S. (2011). Integrating Play and Family Therapy Methods: A Survey of Play

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).

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

I found this chapter to be very informative and another good resource for learning about the different types of play therapy. First, it discussed the directive approach, the toys/materials, and then the skills. It also had a great section for cultural sensitivity, which is very important in all types of therapy. I think both directive and non-directive have pros and cons. Additionally, it is very important to use non-directive first to see were the client is coming from. This is how I start my other forms of therapy as well by using a client-center approach first than gradually moving towards becoming more directive if needed. It is also important based on why the client is being brought in for play therapy. Play therapy is the systematic use of a theoretical model to establish an interpersonal process in which play therapists use the therapeutic powers of play to help clients prevent or resolve psychosocial difficulties and achieve optimal growth (Kottman, 2011). This is done by using directive or non-directive play. Both types of play therapy are important and I will discuss this below.

Clinical supervision plays a major role in the counseling profession and understanding how individuals prefer to have their sessions is a large contributor to how successful one is in their quest (VanderGast, Culbreth, & Flowers, 2010). While the counseling profession continues to grow the need for supervisors is on the rise. Several studies have shown that there is a greater need for the understanding of the supervisory process in all specialty areas (Bernard & Goodyear, 2004; Borders & Brown, 2005). Play therapy supervision is one of the specialty areas that could use some help with the understanding of supervision. Play therapy is now widely accepted in the field and is the natural form of communication of children. VanderGast recognized that there had been a shift in empirical studies in play therapy over the last 15 years. However, the lack of play therapy supervision research leaves much to be desired. This study opened the opportunity for professionals to consider changes in how supervision is provided to therapist who work with children in play

Child therapy differs greatly from adult therapy in a way where in adult therapy, a person is expected to talk about their feelings while the therapist sits there to listen and take notes. With child therapy, there is no way to do that without the child getting bored about sitting still and talking about their feelings. According to child therapist Douglas Green, child therapy should be done in the language of play. Children are more expressive about their feelings and they grow a lot more when they are playing games, with toys, engaging in activities, through drawing, and some other forms of art (Green, 2012). In other words, the child will recover and grow more from the divorce of their parents or the death of their dog or family issues in general if they link up with a therapist and be able to express themselves by engaging in any type of play, than talking about their feelings. By doing this, a therapist will get more feedback from the child instead of forcing them to just sit still and ask them questions. Play therapy, along with other methods specifically designed for child therapy, focuses on the child’s emotional well-being, it serves as a healthy way to express their concerns and feelings, and it helps improve their relationship with those around them especially their families.

Willis, Walters, and Crane (2014) discussed that there is limited past research on “process-oriented studies” (p.1) based on family therapy with young children. In addition, they stated that children are often thought of as “passive participants” (Willis, Walters, & Crane, 2014, p.2) during family sessions; however, in play therapy they are often the focus. When parents can enjoy playing with their child, research found that play was a necessity for this feeling to emerge (Brumfield and Christensen, 2011). Participation was normally only measured in talk time; without play children had very little talk time (Willis, Walters, & Crane,

“Dibs in search of self” is a book written by Virginia Axline that offers a case study to describe the practice of child centered play therapy. Play therapy is a type of therapy for children, where they are able to self-heal through expressing and processing their experiences in a non-directive, natural, and uninhibited way. The book is centered on the struggles of a young boy named Dibs, who enters therapy with Dr. Axline, and begins his journey to establish his own identity, confidence, and self-acceptance. Throughout the book, Dr. Axline shows how play can be a therapeutic experience for a child because it offers a safe space and secure relationship between child and adult. It is a space where children are allowed to use play to communicate

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.

“In the playroom, toys, games and activities are used like words. Children are provided therapeutic toys to enable them to say with the toys what they have difficulty saying with words…. They can use dolls, puppets, paints, or other toys to say what they think or how they feel. “(Reilly & Allmaras, 2002) Watching what a child does while they are playing can give specific insight about what is really bothering them. Sometimes play therapy shows the issues that children don’t know how to say. Play is a universal way of communication. A lot of the time while playing the child will “play” like the situation they are in. Many times if children are being abused, the toys they play with will be beating up another toy. “According to the Association for Play Therapy, play therapy can help trained therapists help clients prevent or resolve psychosocial difficulties and achieve optimal growth and development” (Naderia F, Heidarie A, Bouron P, & Asgari P, 2010) With play therapy children can face the main issue behind their anxiety so that the therapist can find the root

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

The primary aim of the gestalt play therapist is to help children become aware of their unique process. The focus is on the experience of the process, what children do and how they do it, which they are, what they feel and what they want. Acceptance of this leads to the realization that they can personally make choices and experiment with new behavior. Gestalt play therapy focuses on children’s direct experience in the here and now. The therapist’s goal is to facilitate the client’s awareness of their process. (Corey, 2000)