Simone is a 26-year-old female who struggles with anxiety, low self-esteem, and low self-efficacy. She reported discontent with life and that she was "always searching for more.” The play therapist recommended a play therapy group as part of her treatment plan. In the group, the therapist utilized puppetry to increase engagement, provide a safe emotional distance to explore identity and sense of self, and create an engaging environment to practice adaptive coping strategies. As a result of the group, Simone shows improved self-esteem, decreased depressive symptoms, and increased self- efficacy.
Play Therapy with the Elderly Elderly adults can also benefit from play therapy with improvements in self-esteem, social functioning and engagement, while also lowering levels of depression (Ledyard, 1999). Play therapy can also have a positive impact on the cognitive functioning of elderly adults. Integrated Elderly Play Therapy (IEPT) uses toys familiar to the elderly and repeats the process of simple play in order to improve cognitive, psychological and social function (Kil et al., 2019).
Simone is an 92-year-old military veteran who recently moved to a nursing home. Her family decided that the nursing home would be a better fit due to Simone's decreased cognition and struggle to learn new information concerning her health. The staff noticed that Simone had a tendency to isolate herself from her peers and displayed symptoms of depression. They also observed that Simone could not remember staff members' names and her own daily hygiene requirements. The therapist recommended Integrated Elderly Play Therapy to assist with overall goals. The play therapist utilized IEPT games such as finger yoga exercises, traditional storytelling, and repetitive music themes to increase cognitive memory and a variety of expressive art projects to help with mental recovery, expression of happiness, and achievement. Simone shows improvement in cognitive memory and can identify at least two staff members by name. Simone has started to brush her teeth daily without a reminder but still needs assistance with other hygiene needs. Simone looks forward to eating in the dining room on most days and working with her therapist.
Conclusion The power of play is undeniable and can be life-changing at all stages of life. Play deepens congruence between the client and therapist regardless of age and allows authentic healing and autonomy.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cheryl Young Hamilton, EdD, LPC-S, NCC, RPT-S, ADHDCCSP, IPT-CST is the owner of Hamilton Counseling and Consulting, PLLC. She provides supervision and consultation to Licensed Professional Counselor-Associates striving to become a Registered Play TherapistTM
. A 2021 Leadership Academy
graduate, she has also served on the APT Conference and Nominations Committees.
cheryly.hamilton@gmail.com
trauma: A developmentally-informed
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