MEMBER STORYTELLING
Giving Meaning to Gina: Understanding Children's Behavior Through Play Therapy
| JAYLYNNE KOCH, PHD, LPC, RPT-S™ I
early. Back then, I didn’t have a name for her. I just knew I felt too much
and had nowhere safe to express it. Now I call her Gina and I recognize her as anxiety.
in the household, and I had very little control. Gina’s response was to get louder.
She showed up when I left the house in the middle of the night, convinced
She showed up when I upgraded my neighbor’s van from brown to purple
By age ten, when big actions no longer worked, she showed up in the quiet, repetitive act of pulling out my own hair, one strand at a time, just
being the problem wasn’t safe, especially when my older brother already occupied that role. I became the easy one, the rule follower, doing just enough to get by without notice, the child who didn’t need much. I didn’t
We went as a family, mainly because of my brother, but no one explained have an answer. So, I made one up about homework. I sat across from She wasn’t crazy, for the record, but I don’t think she got me either.
What I needed was someone who could see Gina. Someone who understood that the behaviors weren’t random, that the quiet wasn’t
realized. I didn’t have that then. But I understand Gina now.
Gina never left. She grew up with me. For a long time, I tried to silence her. To push her down, ignore her, or outwork her. It wasn’t until adulthood that I learned
how to listen to her, how to respond to her, and how to live alongside her without letting her take over. Trust me, she still tries!
Play therapy taught me the language I didn’t have as a child. It taught me that behavior is communication, that connection comes before correction, and that healing doesn’t happen through compliance, it happens through relationship.
across the room. I follow the child’s lead in play rather than asking them room, the part of the child that is trying to be heard, even when it doesn’t look like it on the surface. Because I know what it’s like to be the child who needed someone to notice. I didn’t have access to that kind of support growing up. Now, I get to help create it for someone else. .
ABOUT THE MEMBER
Jaylynne Koch, PhD, LPC, RPT-S™ has experience. As founder of Bloom Between, LLC, she specializes in anxiety, OCD, family dynamics through play therapy. She’s currently a student of APT’s 2026 Leadership Academy.
jaylynne.koch@bloombetween.com
30 | PLAYTHERAPY | June 2026 |
www.a4pt.org
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