CLINICAL EDITOR’S COMMENTS:
Play therapists must examine their own emotions, beliefs, and actions in order to best support play therapy interventions.
experiences. Students come into the practicum experience typically with a general theoretical framework that aligns with their beliefs; practice. In this article, Alicia will describe her counselor-in-training experience facilitating a play intervention with her supervisor’s graduate student. Dr. Paige Spangler is Alicia’s Practicum course instructor and supervisor for her experience as a school counselor intern.
C
Alicia’s Background and Beginning Practicum I am on the school counseling track as a graduate student at Eastern Illinois University. My background in ministry and education drove my interest in advocating for youth mental health. In the spring semester school. I mainly served students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grade and a few in elementary. I conducted individual sessions, held group sessions, and taught social and emotional learning lessons.
While I had written a Personal Theory of Counseling paper in my Counseling Theories course the previous semester, there was a large gap between theorizing and putting this into practice. Person- centered counseling felt like a good place to start as I forged ahead at my site. Dameron (2016) believes that person-centered counseling is ideal for school counselors because aspects such as unconditional positive regard and empathy are shown to promote character and personality development. A large part of being person-centered at my site resided in understanding my clients’ interests and being creative with interventions. I began to utilize aspects of play therapy such as sand tray therapy, video games, and adapting Dungeons and Dragons to teach social skills. Through my efforts, I was able to connect with end of the school year.
Building Rapport With Adam One of the clients referred to me was a six-year-old boy whom I will refer to as “Adam.” Although I had worked with younger children in the past in my ministry and education work, I had worries about counseling young children because this was new to me. Adam was
ounselors in training often begin their practice with feelings of uncertainty,
vulnerability, and anxiety (Bernard & Goodyear, 2014). Supervisors provide
the new games he had acquired on his Nintendo Switch over the weekend. I used this interest to quickly develop rapport by asking Adam questions about his games and letting him teach me about them. However, Adam resisted talking about what others had deemed his presenting issue. I knew that he had unique circumstances regarding his family and home life, such as living with relatives other than his parents. Although he seemed relatively happy, he would refuse to talk in depth about members of his family. I could sense trusting adults. It would take time to build trust and rapport with him.
a child’s play language (within the session and outside the session) is
one of the keys to helping them play
I tried different interventions with him such as sand tray, art, and talk therapy. Nothing seemed to help him feel comfortable talking about his home life and/or family. When I would consult with the elementary school counselor, she would inform me of things he would tell her in passing about what was happening in his home. When I would casually ask Adam about these narratives, he was quick to withdraw. I was starting to get frustrated because I wanted to better support him. Although Adam would not express his feelings towards video games as a way to help him express his feelings through play therapy. I began brainstorming with Dr. Spangler about how to use video games as a therapeutic intervention.
During supervision with Dr. Spangler, she informed me of an games. This intervention involved drawing a video game controller
www.a4pt.org | September 2024 | PLAYTHERAPY | 25
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36
