Personally, when my practice was full of clients holding and experiencing trauma, I began a daily practice of creating sandtrays. I create a non- directive sandtray at the start of the day to center and ground myself in preparation for the calm and contained demeanor I need to have to help my clients contain their trauma throughout the day. I conclude each day with a directive sandtray to release and let go of held client trauma narratives, so I can more fully transition back to my personal life and family once I leave the workplace. I make a point to discuss any issues that arise in supervision or in consultation with trusted colleagues.
Ongoing supervision and consultation are a critical part of counselor success (Bernard & Goodyear, 2018) and can serve as helpful emotional support. Share your WIP with your supervisor, consultant, or therapist, or start a peer-support accountability group to increase your personal engagement and commitment to your plan and self-care goals and ideals.
Commitment and Conclusion The work we do is of immeasurable importance and makes impacts most of us will never see. Making the commitment to ourselves today to love ourselves in as equal measure as we provide care and consideration to our clients is the foundation of practicing gentle self-care. Practicing what we preach and giving ourselves what we need will allow us to experience playful wonder and joy in session with our clients and out of
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Renee Turner, PhD, LPC-S, RPT-S, is an Assistant and an active APT-Approved Provider. She specializes in embodiment, somatic and sensory play therapy, traumatic loss, sandtray, and inner child play therapy with adults. She currently serves as the Texas APT President-Elect.
rturner@umhb.edu
www.a4pt.org | June 2019 | PLAYTHERAPY | 35
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