Children who have been abused or traumatized in some way may benefit from working with a therapist. Children often reenact trauma through repetitious play in order to establish mastery over their emot
Discussion 1: Play Therapy
Children who have been abused or traumatized in some way may benefit from working with a therapist. Children often reenact trauma through repetitious play in order to establish mastery over their emotions and integrate experiences into their history on their own terms. Through the use of toys and props, children may naturally share their emotions and past experiences without feeling the pressure they might encounter with traditional talk therapy.
For this Discussion, review the course-specific case study for Claudia and the Chiesa (2012) and Taylor (2009) articles.
Respond to the colleagues posts below by expanding on evidence in support of play therapy.
Support your responses with specific references to the Learning Resources. Be sure to provide full APA citations for your references.
Maralyce T
RE: Discussion 1 - Week 8
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Post an explanation of ways play therapy might be beneficial for Claudia. Using the insights gained from the articles, describe ways you might have worked with Claudia to address her fears and anxiety related to the mugging she witnessed.
Claudia experienced a traumatic event when she witnessed a mugging within her neighborhood (Plummer, Makris, & Brocksen, 2014). Due to the traumatic event Claudia’s mother, Paula, reported that Claudia has become very anxious and needy. She also cries frequently, refuses to be in a room by herself, and is constantly asking her parents to lock the doors in case of “bad” people (Plummer, Makris, & Brocksen, 2014). Play therapy is a psychotherapeutic approach that is primarily used to help children ages 3 to 12 explore their lives and allows them to freely express their repressed thoughts and emotions through play (Team, 2015). Utilizing play therapy for Claudia would be beneficial because it will allow her to process and act out her thoughts on “good versus bad” people.
The social worker that worked with Claudia utilized a sand tray that was in her office along with a variety of figures (Plummer, Makris, & Brocksen, 2014). Postmodern clinicians have drawn upon the healing aspects of miniatures and the Sandtray, including narrative and solution-focused (SF) therapies (Taylor, 2009). When a child constructs their world in sand, the child gains the ability to observe and transform certain aspects of their emotional world, thoughts, and memories (Chiesa, 2012). Sand trays will allow the child to let their vision emerge as a competent and active subject through their own psychic processes (Chiesa, 2012). I believe that using the sand try with Claudia was great a tool because it allowed her to process and act out her feelings and emotions and the social worker was able to a picture of what her internal and external reality looks like.
If I were to work with Claudia, I would utilize externalization play using a sock puppet and together we would create a scenario about her fears on the sock puppet. Externalization play would allow the client and therapist to work together to create a character that represents one of the client’s problems and then the therapist could ask questions about the problem without directly addressing the client’s problem (Selva, 2020). By projecting her fears onto the puppet rather than talking about herself she may be more comfortable and willing to open up.
References
Chiesa, C. (2012). Scripts in the sand: Sandplay in transactional analysis psychotherapy with children. Transactional Analysis Journal, 42(4), 285-293.
Plummer, S.-B., Makris, S., & Brocksen, S. M. (Eds.). (2014). Social work case studies: Concentration year. Laureate International Universities Publishing. [Vital Source e-reader].
Selva, J. (2020). Play Therapy Techniques, Toys and Certification Opportunities. https://positivepsychology.com/play-therapy/
Taylor, E. R. (2009). Sandtray and solution-focused therapy. International Journal of Play Therapy, 18(1), 56-68.
Team, G. Play Therapy. https://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/types/play-therapy
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Kevin P
RE: Discussion 1 - Week 8
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Hello Class
Post an explanation of ways play therapy might be beneficial for Claudia.
Because sandboxes are familiar to most children, sand play is not likely to be threatening and more likely to be a safe way to express what may seem to be unacceptable feelings and impulses. Also, clients who are less prone to verbal communication or who may not be language proficient, the sand, and the miniatures become the language through which the child can communicate (Taylor, 2009). The use of sand and objects takes place in a container that defines, by means of its borders, a horizontal space, inside of which the child is free to play and create what he or she wants. For this reason, I think of the sandbox as a creative space that is developed within an atmosphere of protection and permission (Chiesa, 2012).
Using the insights gained from the articles, describe ways you might have worked with Claudia to address her fears and anxiety related to the mugging she witnessed.
I think that Cognitive-Behavior Therapy could be used in this situation. (CBT) approaches have been used successfully to address a range of internal and external emotional/behavioral disorders in children, Involving parents in the interventions enhances positive outcomes for the youth and family. CBT focuses on the relationship among cognitions, affect, and behavior (Ruffolo, & Allen-Meares, 2013).
References
Chiesa, C. (2012). Scripts in the Sand: Sandplay in Transactional Analysis Psychotherapy with Children. Transactional Analysis Journal, 42(4), 285-293.
Ruffolo, M., & Allen-Meares, P. (2013). Intervention with Children. In M.J. Holosko, C. N. Dulmus, & K. M. Sowers (Eds.), Social Work Practice with Individuals and Families: Evidence-Informed Assessments and Interventions (pp. 41-69). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Taylor, E (2009). Sandtray and Solution-focused Therapy. International Journal of Play Therapy, 18(1), 56-68.
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Sando F
RE: Discussion 1 - Week 8
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6111- Week 8 Discussion 1
Children, like Claudia, go through experiences that are stressful or traumatic for them. These experiences may enter their minds in a normal way but can remain stuck for a long time, and in turn cause emotional and behavioral problems. For children to remove the traumatic experiences that got stuck in their minds, they need to make sense of the traumatic experience and relate it to what they already know about their milieu. Play therapy can help in exploring and resolving these problems. It helps children to express their feelings while the therapist supports the development of healthy behaviors (Taylor, 2009). In Claudia’s case context, play therapy can be beneficial in that it can help her get relaxed and develop trust in the play therapist (Plummer, Makris, & Brocksen, 2014b). The sand and tray can help Claudia to relax and create her world according to how she perceives it. In most cases, a child will display repetitive behaviors that help the therapist to evaluate the severity and magnitude of the trauma, fears, and anxiety they are experiencing. Play therapy would also encourage Claudia to build creative ways that would play an important role in dealing with her current traumatic experience.
To address the fears and anxiety that Claudia is suffering from, I would make use of the sand-tray where she builds her world that includes the good people and the bad ones. I believe that the use of this form of play would help Claudia to illustrate her fears. I would ask her to separate the good people from the bad people. We would work hand in hand with Claudia in building an environment she felt she is safe. For Instance, I would ask her to put police to the bad characters who may help in changing their bad behavior and protect the good ones. This would continue until we resolve her fears and anxiety.
Reference
Plummer, S.-B., Makris, S., & Brocksen, S. M. (Eds.). (2014b). Social work case studies: Concentration year. Baltimore, MD: Laureate International Universities Publishing. [Vital Source e-reader]. Working with Children and Adolescents: The Case of Claudia (pp. 15–17)
Taylor, E. R. (2009). Sandtray and solution-focused therapy. International Journal of Play Therapy, 18(1), 56–68
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