C


CLINICAL


hildhood is associated with a sense of wonder and discovery


that long process of is often absent of adulthood. A sense of wonder self-discovery and healthy narratives about self,


           from cultivating a sense of wonder in themselves. Therapeutic  discovering one’s authentic self and letting go of negative labels.


When working with children, it is easy to wonder what their parents             play therapy have one thing in common: Most of the adult’s role in the relationship transcends “doing” for the other and exists in the realm of “being” with the other in the relationship space (Landreth, 2012).


After all the years of longing to be a mother and reading books about what to do, I was not prepared for what I felt emotionally. I sat captive  up and down the little bumps of his spine; they felt like a pearl necklace under a layer of velvet. I realized that this precious relationship – this way of being in wonder – was the single most important aspect of parenting, and one that I argue is important to carry into therapeutic relationships, as well.


I regard wonder as a key healing component of client-play therapist relationships. My play therapy goal is to be in wonder with my client.             experience wonder as well. Wonder is essential to discovering one’s  throughout our entire lifespan.


Wonder Wanders Naturalist and writer Rachel Carson believed wonder is possible and essential. According to Fuller (2006), she wrote, “If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement,  uniquely positioned to assume this role and become the stewards of wonder for our clients.


                        it


is easy to encounter wonder with a new experience, such as


            same new experience becomes familiar, predictable, and ordinary.


Wonder Evolves Throughout the Lifespan One can tell when babies and children are in a state of wonder by looking at them. Their faces are uncensored and their bodies unrestrained. Generally,


they express the same wide eyes, open mouth, raised


The playroom offers a container for the here-and-now moment. Grounded in the now, play therapists see clients as new and delightful, offering them an intimate relationship characterized by openness and vulnerability. This is exactly the type of relationship children need but are not necessarily being offered by the adults in their life. In my work, this is why I do not wonder what parents are doing, but how they are being with their children.


www.a4pt.org | March 2019 | PLAYTHERAPY | 25


from descriptions is key to a life-


EDITOR’S COMMENTS:


The author describes the power of wonder in relationships.


eyebrows, and open hands typical of the response to wonder and  are often connected to spontaneity and vulnerability. Adults often are 


Adults have a big effect on how children develop and respond to the world around them. For better or worse, they shape children’s sense of wonder. Adults with whom children interact are likely to associate their own past positive or negative emotional experiences with children’s present experiences. They are likely to act and speak negatively if their children spontaneously engage in play or activities that they were not allowed to do. In fact, it is during times when children are experiencing energy, enthusiasm, joy, and wonder that they are most likely to attract  intuiting how much they need adults to survive, adapt their ways of doing and being accordingly.


Wonder is Worth Preserving Wonder is key to discovery. With wonder we are curious, and in every moment we can get in touch with a world of possibilities. Our role as play therapists is often about joining our clients in wonder, where they discover their truth and where they heal.


 at their best or were in the process of learning. Experiencing wonder allows them to let go of those labels and see themselves anew. When in a state of wonder, people are open to the moment and the new aspects of themselves that are emerging. When in a state of wonder, people focus on how they or others are in the moment. The power of wonder in play therapy is that it makes space for seeing one’s true authentic self of the moment.


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