F rst pla


Fiirst play th therapy clients’ shoes - orphanage in Ukraine


erapy clien s’ shoes - or


MEMBER STORYTELLING


Planting the Gift of Play Therapy: Helping Children through Cross-Cultural


Supervision in Ukraine | CORIE SCHOENEBERG, PHD, LPC, RPT-S, NCC


s play therapist-supervisors, our work is birthed from an awareness of the overwhelming needs of hurting children and limited therapeutic resources available to them. Rather than helping one child at a time, supervisors choose to serve as hidden, guiding influences within many playrooms. Play therapist-sup


A supervisisors he hellp ch dren hey


will never meet and will likely never know the impac of their investment. My own supervisory journey has taken me from far home and into the 


To


in Ukraine, the only requirement is an undergraduate degree


become a practicing psychologist in


or gatekeeping. With n psychology y.


Licensure is non-existent, and there are no requirements for professional ethics, clinical supervision,


no ical limite in evidence-based ted


education, many Ukrainian psychologists are not able to provide theoretically sound clinical skills grounded


are inical practctice,


and play therapy is virtually unknown. TheseT ese professional


ded


     have been triggered by the current war crriisis and years of generational trauma.


challenges are compounded by 


sis and


Bonded by a shared mission, I joined a team of volunteer doctoral students and counseling professionals who offer intensive trainings, ongoing education, and distance supervision for Ukrainian psychologists   invited to speak at a number of government and civic conferences, and as the lone child specialist, I shared about the importance of childhood mental health. At the conclusion of my talk, I will never forget a woman running and yelling down the aisle to get my attention. She poured out stories and described painful problems of the children in her school, which I immediately recognized as signs of trauma. Her pleading eyes and the ache in her voice as she tried to express the suffering of these children left me changed, and I knew that I could not walk away from the pervasive needs of these children who have so few resources and advocates.


The needs of those hurting children planted a calling in my play therapy heart and I committed to ongoing work with Ukraine, but the supervisory


While the challenges are tremendous, the meaning of this important work is indescribable. Our grass-roots project transformed into the Ukrainian Institute for Education in Psychology and Counseling, and the      heavily incorporates play therapy, launched with        


W th p


E 


life-changing power of play therapy. As a play therapist-supervisor, I can attest that sometimes our greatest service to children happens during the tremendous work that must be done long before a child ever sets foot in the playroom.


ABOUT THE MEMBER


Corie Schoeneberg, PhD, LPC, RPT-S, NCC is the Program Director for the  of the Ukrainian Institute for Education in Psychology and Counseling, provides play therapy university instruction and private clinical supervision in the United States, and is currently the Chair for APT’s University Education Committee. corisch@mail.regent.edu


www.a4pt.org | December 2019 | PLAYTHERAPY | 11 the impact of their chiildren tthey CLINICAL EDITOR’S COMMENTS:


The author describes play therapy supervisory challenges in working with psychologists from another country and culture.


challenges of this unique professional situation are profound. I must navigate through cross-cultural


teaching and supervision, consider


the dynamics of translator work in communication, and engage in a professional mental health landscape that is decades behind American st


standards of practice. As I work with Ukrainian supervisees, I have a sobering sense that the ability to refer a severe client to to anot


rd


an optio highest and m here i  


other professional with greater expertise is typically not an option since our supervisees are very likely receiving the highest level of education and supervision in play therapy and mental health practice available in the country. For us, t there is no “Plan B.” However, these Ukrainian supervisees          country and will eventually become play therapist- super


pe visors and instructors themselves, passing on the gi gifftt of play therapy to even more children.


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