Processing, Transformation, and Hopefulness 9. If you are a survivor of a traumatic event(s), are you ready to treat a traumatized child and family? You may not be prepared to work as a  narratives because of your own traumatic experience, or if your ability to establish a therapeutic alliance with children’s unsupportive caregivers is compromised. It is critical that therapists’ verbal and nonverbal reactions do not convey avoidance, disgust, or horror when trauma-related content emerges. Engaging in one’s own therapy or obtaining consultation can be helpful in assessing readiness to provide trauma-focused treatment.


10. Do you regularly employ strategies for transforming your indirect trauma exposure into positive or helpful experiences? After each client has terminated play therapy, it is often helpful to review the child’s treatment, identify lingering regrets or concerns about the child, and either transform the regrets into lessons learned or shift the focus from concerns to positive experiences shared with the child. Consider ways in which the child’s life is better because you were a part of it and how your work is enriched because of your experience with the child. Then, vow to leave behind regrets or anxiety to move forward, helping others with your newly transformed experiences.


11. Are you hopeful? In challenging or grim conditions, it is easy to lose sight of what has been accomplished. Attend to work successes by keeping a success journal, sharing achievements during staff meetings, or commemorating each client in a symbolic way (e.g., placing a special stone in a jar at the end of treatment). In moments when your hopefulness needs bolstering, you can return to this tangible evidence of your work and its positive impact.


Social Support  Devote ample time to developing or strengthening connections to people who support and respect you and your work. Remind yourself that you are not alone in promoting traumatized children’s healing and growth: You are part of a broader community of professional heroes for children.


Conclusions An important component of play therapists’ professional development is the ability to recognize and address STS. Despite the indirect trauma exposure that characterizes the work of many play therapists, a variety of strategies can help prevent or ameliorate STS. By attending to safety, basic physical needs, and their surroundings, play therapists can reduce    strategies also helps buffer the impact of work-related trauma exposure. Transforming indirect trauma exposure into meaningful lessons or     from each other. We work from many independent locations across the globe, but we work united, as part of a mighty force for children’s wellbeing, hope, and play.


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ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Janine Shelby, PhD, RPT-S, is an Associate Clinical   recently completed a Distinguished Fellow/Guest Professorship in Kobe, Japan, and currently works as a consultant to mental health agencies, in private practice, and as a forensic expert. jsshelby@g.ucla.edu


www.a4pt.org | June 2019 | PLAYTHERAPY | 19


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