beginning and end of each session. Paired with the body scans, Briana created body maps in each session to provide a visual representation of sensations occurring in her body. She also scanned her body as emotions arose during the session to increase awareness of sensation and emotional embodiment. In my reflection of her session content, I focused on reflecting her body language (posture, level of eye contact, breathing) and Briana was able to make contact with her body and sensations in a new way. For homework, I asked Briana to scan her body throughout the day, especially before and after binges and purges, and to create body maps in a journal to reflect the body scans. She reported surprise in being able to notice sensations and body signals throughout the day alerting her to hunger and fullness, thereby increasing her awareness of how sensations are connected to her overall mood. Scaling methods were used to help Briana identify the presence and intensity of what she referred to as “good” and “bad” mood states. Once Briana was able to consistently identify body sensations and body cues, we moved into phase two of therapy, which connects emotions and the physical body. In this phase, emotions are identified, labeled, and added to the body scan and body map to increase self-awareness of mind (emotions) and body (sensations). Gradually, Briana learned to identify the emotions she felt most frequently, anger and shame, and least frequently, joy and fear. She then began to connect these emotions to her interactions at home. To
explore these emotions at a deeper level, I asked Briana to create mini sand trays of each emotion and then scan her body as she looked at each mini sand tray. The visual representation of the emotion in the tray helped Briana anchor the feelings in her body, identifying how she physically felt when emotions arose. She gained mastery in pinpointing situations that triggered negative emotions and beliefs. As a result, Briana was able to recognize times in which she felt joy with her mother, an emotion that was previously difficult for her to identify. When Briana was able to accurately identify sensations, emotions, and patterns of behavior, we entered the next phase of therapy. In phase three, body dialoging is utilized as a method of increasing somatic awareness in order to understand what the body wants or needs. During my third session with Briana, we created a dialogue with her stomach. To begin the process, she drew her stomach in a hungry state and in an “overfull” state. Her stomach expressed feelings of confusion and anger at being hurt by Briana. It said it wanted Briana “to listen” and for Briana to “be nice” to it. During this session, Briana was able to foster some compassion for the part of herself she was harming. As her stomach “spoke,” Briana identified negative beliefs congruent with her overall schema regarding not being heard, not mattering, and feeling ashamed for existing. Briana proceeded to connect these beliefs to her relationships with others, particularly her father.
In the fourth phase, negative beliefs are challenged through the use of exceptions, while positive affirmations and positive beliefs are anchored in the body. Through our sessions, Briana identified recurrent negative beliefs about herself and the world. In this phase, I
Child-Centered Play Therapy and Filial Family Therapy Workshops
Child-Centered
Play Therapy Workshops William Nordling, Ph.D., RPT-S April 7-8, 2017
September 8 -9, 2017
Filial Family Therapy William Nordling, Ph.D., RPT-S November 10-11, 2017
Advanced Child-Centered Play Therapy
Robert F. Scuka, Ph.D. June 2, 2017
Supervision and
• A structured, guided
process to skill mastery • Supervision counts toward APT registration as an RPT
Visit or call 301-680-8977 for more information.
National Institute of Relationship Enhancement®
the American Psychological Association, NBCC, and the Maryland Board of Social Work Examiners.
13 PLAYTHERAPY | September 2017 |
www.a4pt.org
Schedule for 2017
New
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