Using Adlerian Play Therapy

Play therapy: therapy in which emotionally disturbed children are encouraged to act out their fantasies and express their feeling through play, aided by a therapist interpretations. Not only children can unitized play therapy but also adults also can benefits from the effects of play. Because play is not just for children but for all humans. Play is a fundamental action that humans engaging, or at least should engage, in everyday. Since play leads to the emotions of happiness which makes people feel good. So main point play or play therapy can help stressed, burnout, play defiant and emotionally disturbed adults through these

5) Maintaining responsibility for child to make choice during the session. In role-play, child can choose to continue playing with the sand tray or stop play. Stay with the child, giving the space and time for child to do whatever he needs at that moment. The basic theoretic belief of non-directive play therapy is promoting self-awareness and insight within the individual, so as to manifest change in behaviour. Placing the child as the focus of the therapy, tried to help child to realize his responsibility for himself. The whole therapeutic sand play session (10 mins) become child’s time to do whatever he needs to. Therapy remain with the child though the whole 10 mins, even child stated that he finished what he needs to do. No objection nor suggestion from therapy. Keep quite; stay calm, close and interested to the child.

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”

The crucial C’s of Adlerian play therapy are I feel Connected, I am Capable, I Count, and I have Courage. Feeling connected to others, being self-reliant, perceiving

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.”

A field that has seen rapid growth in the last few decades is child therapy. Unlike adult therapy which can be as simple as a conversation between peers, child therapy presents a variety of new barriers. One barrier faced by child therapists is understanding behaviors that come from individuals on a different developmental level than themselves. Techniques and conversations that can be readily applied to adults by therapists are lost on children. Additionally with disorders that effect communication and connection, all attempts previously used would be null and void. Unfortunately, the individuals who would benefit from therapy the most are the ones who present these barriers. In an effort to make up for these deficits, play therapy was introduced as a way to transcend language barriers and aid the child in becoming self-aware on their own.

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).

Play therapy involves working on rules and boundaries, such as coming up with tasks that enables the client to establish trust; therefore, building interpersonal skills. Since Spike expresses himself through animation, I used humor in treatment by simply following through with his imaginations. I was sensitive to Spike’s values and beliefs by being cognizant of the stigma associated with Spike’s view of his presenting problem and treatment

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.

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.

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)