consultations could be described to parents as similar to the familiar process of a teacher/parent meeting. These consultations are not adult therapy per se, but rather consultation aimed at partnering together to support their child’s therapeutic work (Solt, 2013). Stulmaker and Jayne (2018) describe this process of alternating child play sessions with parent consultations as concurrent work, making the distinction between this approach and family therapy, where the whole family system would be present at the same time.
If it becomes important for the parents and play therapist to connect more regularly, either for purposes of guiding a play session with a child or to meet the need of a parent to share information, a behavioral health form could be used (Solt, 2013). This could be conveyed electronically, assuming HIPAA compliance, to avoid the sense for the child of being talked about by parents and the play therapist. A child’s interpretation of seeing information shared between parent and therapist can be disruptive to the child-centered play therapy approach of focusing on a child as a whole person versus as a problem (Landreth, 2012). Evelyn Connie Holliman (2023) offers an example of a weekly report that can be found on the Resource Page of the Association for Play Therapy.
The focus of a parent consultation meeting varies depending on the stage of treatment. During an intake session with parents, a play approach, initial treatment goals, the child’s developmental history, an orientation to play therapy and its unique limits, approach to
Mary Anne Peabody (2021) suggests “sharing a colorful visual of the four categories of the therapeutic powers of play” to help parents understand play therapy (p. 6). Undergirding all of this is the play therapist’s desire to start building a therapeutic alliance and rapport with parents. Jennifer Lerma, LCSW recommends communicating to parents that they are the “expert” on their child, thus starting out with a solid foundation of the play therapist lending their training to the parent in a true partnership where all work together to make changes on behalf of a child’s progress (personal communication, March 22, 2023).
Interim parent consultations continue to attend to the therapist- parent therapeutic alliance, while also sharing information back and focus on the therapist sharing her current conceptualization of the child’s work in play therapy. Tying in a parent’s observations outside of session with themes present in play sessions can be helpful in both noting progress, or lack thereof, as well as empowering a parent to understand therapy (J. Lerma, personal communication, March 22, 2023). Parent support, education, advocacy, and treatment planning consultation before termination of play therapy shifts naturally to focus on a healthy goodbye with both parent and child, preparation future needs, and agreement on treatment conclusion Stulmaker & Jayne, 2018).
www.a4pt.org | December 2023 | PLAYTHERAPY | 27
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