Self-Care: A Trauma Therapist’s Best Friend


| KIRSTEN GOFFENA, MA, NCC, LPC, RPT-S


“I


 get when answering the question, “What do you do?” When


I respond by telling them that I am a play therapist that helps children who have been sexually abused, I can see their obvious discomfort. It is a cue for me to educate them, to rally support for victims, and to shed light on a topic that they most likely want to shove back into the shadows. This is true not only for laypersons, but for many professionals who choose not to work with children. From them, I hear a mix of, “Thank you for doing this work,” and, “I couldn’t do it.”


20 | PLAYTHERAPY June 2019 | www.a4pt.org


As play therapists and healers of child trauma, we are called to this deep and meaningful work (Dik & Duffy, 2009). Some of us intentionally and        myself included, had no intention of working with children but, one way  we courageously hold unspeakable pain and suffering with our clients. In the holding, we allow their stories to see the light of day, to come out of the shadows so the shame and pain can be washed away, and they can be whole once again.


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