are to empower children to recognize and understand their emotions and behaviors, develop social skills, and build healthy relationships.
Based on the idea that the quality of teacher-child relationship and program, based on AdPT, was designed to improve the teacher- student relationship, and help teachers gain insight into factors that may contribute to children’s problematic behaviors.
Andronico and
agents. Teachers provided with supplemental training in addressing the children’s emotional needs are empowered and feel they can work and Guerney’s theory of relying on the strength of the relationship in skills to influence children’s behavior. It takes weeks and sometimes months for a therapist to establish a therapeutic relationship with a child; a teacher, however, already has this established relationship due to the extensive time spent with the child each day. The goal in training teachers is for them to generalize therapeutic skills into their normal interactions in the classroom, eventually impacting far more children teachers were taught the following play therapy skills: tracking, empathy, encouragement, and setting limits in hopes of helping their at- risk students. These components are foundational non-directive play skills that should be utilized in the preschool setting. Kinder Training is a play-based intervention designed to assist teachers in developing
components and developed a 10-session model that utilized didactic teaching, group process, demonstrations, role-playing, at-class sessions, and videotaped or live supervision.
is to provide them with an overview of the principles and techniques of the approach.
The Teacher-Child Connection Training provides
an outline of essential AdPT components that can be utilized by preschool teachers.
In this program, the facilitator trains teachers in
non-directive play therapy skills, such as tracking behavior, restating the content of children’s verbalizations, reflecting children’s feelings, returning responsibility to children, and providing encouragement to children. The facilitator also shares information with teachers about children’s behaviors and personalities as a way for teachers to better understand children and as a tool to help teachers provide emotional and behavioral support to the children in their classrooms.
teachers the value of building a strong connection with the children in that they can use to strengthen their connection to the children in their
learn ways they can foster their students’ Crucial Cs in their classrooms; children’s goals of misbehavior and the needs they are trying to meet through those misbehaviors, and strategies for responding to children’s misbehavior. All these goals will be an integral part of the 10 instructional sessions and the observation, feedback, coaching, and mentoring of the teachers by the facilitators/instructors. The TCCT program emphasizes training preschool teachers in the Adlerian concepts of encouragement, the Crucial Cs, and the goals of misbehavior.
Children tend to be constantly reminded of their limitations. Consider
the 4-year-old- who cannot reach the faucet, see the top of the counter, needs help cutting his food, and cannot quite do up his pants after going to the bathroom.
Given consistent encouragement, one can
increase the probability that children will accept these shortcomings Encouragement is a hallmark skill in AdPT.
It involves the teacher
providing positive feedback to the children, which can foster self- acceptance, self-respect, self-worth, and resilience.
The following are ways that the teacher can encourage the children in their classrooms:
1. Focus on effort: Instead of focusing solely on the outcome of the child’s play, teachers can encourage the child’s effort and hard
2. Highlight strengths: Teachers can help children recognize their
3. Courage to be imperfect: It’s important for children to understand that making a mistake is a normal part of learning and growing. Teachers can provide encouragement by acknowledging children’s mistakes and reassuring them that it is okay to make them.
4.
Reinforce progress: Teachers can acknowledge children’s
By providing positive feedback, teachers can help children develop a
www.a4pt.org | September 2023 | PLAYTHERAPY | 5
CLINICAL EDITOR’S COMMENTS: Preschool teachers support children at a critical time in
their development, and may provide early intervention with social and emotional needs using play therapy.
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