MEMBER STORYTELLING CLINICAL EDITOR’S COMMENTS:
The author shares her enthusiasm for play therapy and her openness to embracing what she does not yet know.
What I Know | AUDREY ROBINSON, PHD, LPC-S, RPT-S, CERTIFIED-CCPT, CSC I
this, I have pondered my story and the stories of those who have
influenced me. One of those influences is Dee Ray, and I even joke that I want to be her when I grow up.
I got bangs to be like her! Actually,
I got bangs because they’re cheaper than Botox, but Dee Ray and several other play therapists have had a profound impact on my life through their work, mentorship, and research. As I reflect on my life thus far, I am struck by a truth that has manifested in my life: The best pieces of my life have been things I didn’t even know to ask for, one of which was my path to play therapy.
Since middle school, I wanted to be a helper. I earned a bachelor’s
elementary school, I began my master’s degree in School Counseling took a play therapy course and I fell in love. Child-centered play therapy felt like home and provided a warm blanket to wrap around myself and my clients. When I teach new counselors about theory, I like to use an started out with a different pair of shoes, thinking they were the right
When I graduated, I knew enough to know I didn’t know enough to work so I pursued a Ph.D., RPT, and LPC. I was hired as an elementary school counselor and found every way I could to squeeze play therapy into all the spaces of an over-full plate. For my dissertation, I researched the effects of CCPT with students with ADHD, and I dreamed of being able to do only play therapy for my school district.
I told whoever would
listen about the magic of play therapy and shined a light into a gap in our services for dysregulated children. My district had a small
counseling clinic with a LPC-S serving students’ families, and the add a full-time play therapist, I landed my dream job! Again, I found I knew enough to know I didn’t know enough. I attended the Association for Play Therapy conference and learned more about assessment, which took my services to the next level. The pandemic began during Steve Armstrong, to help me adapt.
I carry on the wisdom of my
mentors and am proud to be part of their legacy. My next phase as a play therapist
contributing to the body of work for those who will come after me. I want to continue to provide high
is writing my own story and I
would like to build an army of school-based play therapists and play therapy-trained school counselors.
quality counseling services to students and families who might not otherwise receive services. I am not certain what the next chapters of my story will be, and that is incredibly exciting, because I know it will be better than I would know to ask for.
ABOUT THE MEMBER
Audrey Robinson, CCPT, CSC is a play therapist for a large, urban school district. She has researched CCPT and has presented play therapy in schools and with underserved populations at local and state conferences. She is an adjunct professor for TAMU-C and runs CPRT groups with their students.
Amrobinson621@gmail.com
34 | PLAYTHERAPY | September 2021 |
www.a4pt.org
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