I
CLINICAL EDITOR’S COMMENTS:
magine a brand-new clinician, fresh out of graduate
recently moved across the country and was starting to work at a rural mental health agency. Although her internship had focused on providing play therapy to children, this agency also expected her to see adults. She was completely out of her comfort zone in this new, unfamiliar place. After only a few days at her position, an older person was helped into the room. She was catatonic. Her doctor had been unable to to the clinic. She was unable to speak intelligibly or move without assistance. While this novice clinician sat with the frozen, frail woman, she felt confused and inadequate. She had primarily spent her time with preschoolers during her internship. How could she connect with an old woman who was in a state that she had only read about in textbooks?
“Can I put this Play Doh in your hands? Maybe it would help?” the inexperienced counselor asked, rather spontaneously, after spotting it on her desk. The therapist slowly opened the container and gently moved it towards the older woman’s weathered hands and helped them grasp the doughy lump. The woman tried to speak and smile. The therapist smiled back and was relieved that the woman seemed to welcome the gesture. She helped her mold the dough in her stiff hands. “It will get a little softer if we work together,” the clinician said quietly, hoping that the uncertainty she felt inside wasn’t evident in her voice.
After the woman received the higher level of psychiatric care she needed, she came back regularly to see this clinician. Clinic managers said this was unusual, as she had been sporadic about attending therapy in the past. However, now she came weekly, and she and her therapist always played with Play Doh as they talked.
That therapist was me.
well into old age.
At the time, I was not informed about relational neuroscience or the am today. As I have learned more, I now understand that this client likely returned to see me because of the feelings of safety and connection that play helped facilitate. Since that time, I have used play therapy with clients of all ages. I have experienced moments of shared delight, deeper understanding, and witnessed the profound healing that can occur. Beyond this personal, anecdotal experience, research is building to support the use of play therapy beyond childhood. The following article will share research supporting the use of play therapy in adulthood and later life, as well two case examples from my clinical work*.
*Clients highlighted in this article have had their identities changed. while maintaining integrity of the clinical examples.
Neuroscience Indicates That Human Beings Are
Wired To Play There is ample research indicating that human beings are born that mammals, including humans, are wired with at least seven basic “emotional dispositions.” Also referred to as affective circuits, humans begin life wired to experience rage, fear, care, panic, lust, seeking and play. Our brains are primed with these circuits so we may survive and
empathy development and social learning. “Physical play is infectious, and animals learn about the affective values of social interactions, which may provide fundamental learning experiences for higher forms health, as the play circuit in the human brain assists us in experiencing
www.a4pt.org | December 2022 | PLAYTHERAPY | 25
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