Play Therapy Skills Practice Transcript

Play Therapy Skills Practice Transcript

For this discussion, you will focus on The Case of Luis that was presented in Unit 2. First, watch the short Video Role-Play media depicting five key play therapy skills in the Unit 6 Studies. Then, review The Case of Luis and the discussion instructions that follow:

The Case of Luis

Luis is in the fourth grade. His mother is concerned that he may need counseling because he has not grown out of a fear he has had since he was young that is now interfering with developing peer friendships. Luis is afraid of vomiting in a public place. As you speak with him, you learn that when he was in kindergarten, he once got upset and cried so much that he vomited. His teacher was not particularly sympathetic and his parents could not be reached for a while, so he spent several hours with soiled clothes, feeling very ashamed and embarrassed. Subsequently, he became fearful that he might vomit again, with no reason or warning. His behaviors have become more restricted over the years, and now he will not eat if his family goes out to dinner because he fears the food might make him sick. He eats very little at school—just a few foods that he has decided are safe—and his peers have begun to tease him. If he eats something and starts worrying about vomiting, he soon begins to feel sick and often does vomit. So he has begun avoiding more and more social occasions; he declines invitations to birthday parties and sleepovers because he does not want to refuse to eat (and risk being teased) but he is afraid that he will vomit if he does eat. His mother says she has always had trouble with a sensitive stomach so she is very sympathetic toward Luis's fears. However, Luis's pediatrician says he can find no medical problem with Luis.

To complete this discussion:

• Assume that you are the counselor for Luis and that you are going to engage in individual play therapy with him.
• Consider the four moments, listed below, in therapy and create a hypothetical transcript of your interaction with Luis for each of the four moments in therapy demonstrating the key play therapy skills in the Video Role Plays in this unit. Use the Counseling Transcript Template, linked in Resources (which you also used in the Unit 2 discussion: Practice Child Counseling Skills) to present your transcript. Be sure to label and provide a rationale for the play therapy skills you use. As the counselor, your transcript should demonstrate these foundational play therapy skills:
  • Structuring the beginning of the session.
  • Tracking.
  • Reflecting and empathic listening.
  • Therapeutic limit setting.

Moment 1: Luis and his mother show up for his first session and you have just completed the informed consent process. Moment 2: Luis begins to draw a picture. Moment 3: Luis picks up a stuffed animal and begins to rock it in his arms. Moment 4: Luis picks up a crayon or toy, and breaks it while watching to see what you would do.

Follow these instructions to create your hypothetical transcript with your responses to these four moments:

1. Counseling Transcripts should have three columns .
   1. The left-most column designates who was speaking –the client or the counselor.
   2. The center column depicts what was said.
   3. The third column labels the skill that the counselor used and the counselor's intentions [in brackets].
   4. The skill should come from the list of Universal Counseling Skills in Counseling Children, pages 84–85.
   5. The intention should apply one of the Purposes listed in the text's table to the interaction with the client.
2. Each talk turn should be on its own row.
3. You may use the template, linked in Resources, after deleting the instructions, or create your own form that meets Specifications 1 and 2. Add more rows if necessary.
4. Your transcript should be no more than two pages.

In addition to the transcript, provide an initial response to briefly address the following:

• Which skills were easiest for you to use? Which were the hardest?
• What challenges would you anticipate in using play therapy in your future work as a counselor?
• How might culture and personal beliefs come into play when working with a child client in play therapy?

In addition to the above, please describe two play therapy techniques that you did NOT use and how you could implement them in play therapy. Use the first person voice when describing your skills and reactions. Use the third person to support your analyses with references from course readings. Cite at least two sources to support your thoughts in this post.