Theraplay®


Four Dimensions in Play Therapy Supervision Booth and Jernberg (2010) explained that the Four Dimensions of Theraplay®


are


Structure, Engagement, Nurture, and Challenge. The key concepts in structure are safety, organization, and emotional regulation. In a healthy relationship, the adult guides the child through interaction(s) that provide(s) safety and reassurance. Using a directive approach, the adult offers the child emotional support and warm leadership, which assists the child in learning organization, emotional regulation, and ultimately self-control. In Theraplay®


and practicing joy of companionship, attunement, and being in the here-and-now. The child learns to emotionally connect and focus on the here-and-now events in order to make an attuned connection and help them feel “seen” and “felt.” This synchronous interaction provides the children the chance to experience the joy of shared companionship with their caregiver(s). The nurturing dimension focuses on the key concepts of security, self-worth, and stress reduction. Utilizing a calm attitude and practicing loving care during activities makes the experience of the child feel warm and secure and sends the message to the child that they are able to trust her or his caregiver(s) to provide safety and security. This feeling of security builds the inner representation that the child is loved and valued. Promoting feelings of confidence through age appropriate activities in a non-competitive atmosphere of spontaneity, fun, and warmth are the hallmark of the challenge dimension whose key concepts are competence, mastery, and play that is aligned with the child’s developmental stage they are currently capable of expressing. Mirroring these same four dimensions during the supervision process, the supervisor uses a Theraplay®


directive approach and prompts the supervisee to


interact in the supervision process with positive emotional communication with emphasis on relational attunement, synchronous, and reciprocal right brain-based interactions, while considering opportunities for repair in the here-and-now. The supervisor asks the supervisee questions that aid the reflective process, which assists the play therapist’s focus on moving parent/child into a healthier relationship (Malchiodi & Crenshaw, 2014). In setting supervision goals, while embracing case conceptualization, the supervisee will be able to direct the therapeutic process using a systemic process with the family that is in treatment. A collaborative relationship that establishes clear, meaningful, and effective goals emerge as the supervisor and supervisee interact and increase the supervisee’s professional learning (Wade & Jones, 2015). Supervision is a structured and effective process when the four dimensions of Theraplay®


are integrated and


related to the therapeutic process with the client. Organizing the Supervision Experience


Bernard and Goodyear (2009) stated that effective supervision takes place either face-to-face or in a secure distant platform and can be offered individually or in a group format. Additionally, the roles and responsibilities held by play therapy supervisors are both administrative and clinical in nature. Authors explained supervision includes roles that are often overlapping duties that include organizing, scheduling, teaching therapeutic skills, case conceptualizing, clinical supervision goal setting, and monitoring supervisee growth while providing quality supervision. A supervision contract is drafted and agreed upon that includes fees, meeting location, time and length of supervision, and the frequency of supervision. Adhering to best practice standards, effective supervisors provide supervisees with


, the dimension of engagement is learning


a Bill of Rights (placing supervisees in the center of the contract and relationship) and a professional disclosure statement (including the supervisors’ credentials, supervision approach, and experience). Supervisors keep a record of each supervision meeting and both parties sign the document, which is kept in a secure locked file cabinet for seven years after the supervision relationship ends, at which time records are destroyed. Supervisees have a legal right to all written records if put in writing and provided to the supervisor. Assisting supervisees with identifying written methods of informed consent, client rights and responsibilities, HIPPA regulations, risk management and clinical procedures, and training of the supervisee, is part of the structure that the supervisor provides. A release that the client understands that the supervisee is seeking supervision during their treatment, and an attestation form that the play therapist will follow ethical guidelines per the Association for Play Therapy is the sole responsibility of the supervisee. Copies of these written forms are provided to the supervisor for their records.


Case Example Stephanie, a trained Theraplay® play therapist, has practiced for


eight months in private clinical practice and has sought group supervision to better assist in case conceptualization. During one group supervision meeting with five other supervisees, Stephanie complains about a divorced family with whom she is currently offering Theraplay®


treatment. She believes the family lacks


healthy boundaries. There is a continuous conflict between parents and they denigrate the other while putting the children in the middle of adult arguments. Stephanie explains that this boundary issue and conflict has spilled over into the therapeutic process. She explains, “The mother will state that the father will pay for the therapy when he brings in the children although that was not the arrangement made at the beginning of services. Additionally, the older child will burst into the therapy room say: ‘Mom wants you [Stephanie] to work on us [the boys] fighting all the time’.” Stephanie explains that the mother is undermining the therapeutic process and that Stephanie is unsure how to address this concern with her. Additionally, Stephanie offers several examples of the mother not holding her children accountable for their misbehaviors. When Stephanie implements a behavioral reward system, the mother undermines Stephanie by saying she will give him a reward even if he has not earned it. Stephanie expresses frustration over knowing what to do to resolve the conflicting issues in this case.


By integrating structure, engagement, nurture, and challenge into the supervision process, the supervisor models how to integrate these four dimensions into the therapeutic session. Using the Theraplay®


model of supervision, the supervisor


challenges Stephanie on setting healthy boundaries both in areas of contractual agreements with the client regarding timely pay, providing therapeutic services and in modeling ethical and professional boundaries with her client. The supervisor models


22 PLAYTHERAPY | September 2016 | www.a4pt.org


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