The Client Should Not Have to Erase His/Her Own Play Story 


Parents and many therapists really struggle with clean-up times! Teaching little ones to clean up after themselves at home is an excellent  in the environment, lets children practice organization, and helps build a sense of responsibility and connection to the family. Although I do not ask children to clean up after play therapy, part of my clinical work involves helpinginvolves helping


 up at home.


clinical w 


I encourage parents to make a set of clean-up cards with a picture on each one thatt represents a category for toys or other items to search for to put in its proper home. Parents and children can creat cards together to further involve children in the process. Children draw a card and put away the toy or item on it. For example, if they pull a card with a picture of books oooks on  on the bookshelf. Breaking down the process into easily accomplished steps with visual cues reduces an otherwise overwhelming tasklming task of, “Go clean your room,” to a very doable, and even fun, activity.


up


her er


ate


dren and


xample,


e pro ess visual


oable, and However, the play therapy room is quite a te


different place than the child’s home, classroom, or childcare environment.


classr om or


The play therapy room is a sacred therapeutic space, one of the only places in the whole world where children are in control of the


erapeutic space, one of the


  time as a chance to do something together (Kottman & Meany-Walen,  rule-following and cooperative behavior; a power struggle may present an opportunity to help the child process frustration.


Therapists who do not request help may          each toy to its home may help ground the therapist after a tough session and may also help refresh the therapist’s memory for notes. By contrast, play therapists who ask children to help provide an opportunity for clients to ground themselves – a way to wind down and to prepare for goodbyes.


 Play therapists who choose not to involve clients in clean up frequently cite Landreth’s (2012) “toys are the child’s





COUNTER POINT


environment and of themselves. Clients must feel free to explore the therapy room and therapeutic process without the encumbrances and barriers they face numerous times each day in the real world, such as, “No, stop, don’t,” or “If you get that out, you have to put it away.” Play therapists should be prepared to apply only minimal limits for safety and function in the play therapy room (Ray 2011). Requiring a client to clean up may not only hinder the client’s expression in therapy, it may also send the message that his or her therapeutic “mess” is not oka


clean up may not only hinder th also send the message th okay.


The play therapy motto, “Toys are the children’s words and play is their language,” (Landreth 2012, p. 16) allows us to see the playroom as the notebook in which to write those words and sttories. We would not ask clients to erase their story or to take back everything they said in session; therefore, we should not erase their play.


e pl thera


ds and p. 16) a not s


i


their said


e


At the end of session, I give children choices by asking them if there is one more thing they would like to do before the session ends and if they would like to put away the therapy items or leave them as-is. If the client would like


At the by ask they w and iff


ems or lea


explain I wil have to ese 


me to keep the tray or room exactly as it is permanently, I explain I will have to r reset the room for another client to use, but 


me t keep the tra


hiis implliies leaviing time at the end of the session for the client to make t these decisio s and lea play therapis


play therapist to c ean-up.


  Th s imp es lea ng time at the mak


hese decisions and leaving time between appointments for the cleanl


words and play is their language” (p. 16). From this perspective, toys are sacred tools of communication, and to ask clients to put them away is akin to asking them to clean up their emotional world. The child may feel compelled to restrict their play in the next session to avoid cleaning up as much. Conversely, therapists may wish to teach clients about cause and effect, and tidying up is a natural, appropriate consequence to playing with toys. Cleaning up together may be especially useful for 


Although there is no right or wrong answer to how play therapists choose to clean up after their sessions, they should clarify how asking   their clients’ therapeutic goals. This could be an answer that changes from client to client or as therapeutic goals progress and change for individual clients, as well.


www.a4pt.org | March 2019 | PLAYTHERAPY | 17


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