Not Taking the Trauma Home:


Holding the Holder at the Organizational Level


| PARIS GOODYEAR-BROWN, MSW, LCSW, RPT-S & SARAH D. STAUFFER, PHD, LPC, RPT-S


P


aris is a mother of three: Sam (age 17), Madison (age 13), and Nicholas (age 9). Sarah is a mother of two: Dylan (age 8) and


 in the hotel lobby at the 2018 Association for Play Therapy International Conference. We both had arrived late, having spent the day presenting, seeing clients, writing notes, and supervising others, then flying across the country – and the world – instead of tucking our babies in (no matter how old they are). We sank into a couch, rested our heads upon each other’s shoulders, and listened to each other wrestle with the constant struggle to show up for clients, colleagues, students, and our own families. We began to wonder: How do we save our best self for our own children if we give our best self all day every day to other children?


42 | PLAYTHERAPY June 2019 | www.a4pt.org


The honest answer: We do not always. For other practical answers, we asked our children and spouses, “What are the best and hardest parts about having a play therapist mom/partner?” The best parts included,              children whose mommies can’t help them,” and (from older kids/teens), “You understand more complicated and mature topics.” The hardest parts included, “You are away a lot,” “I wonder if you’ve had more fun with another kid,” “I’m jealous because they get to spend more time with you,” (and from older kids),“You see me as another client that needs to  in other professions tell their kids during cleanup time, “That’s my toy.  therapize me.”


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56