Play Therapy
Play Therapy is a model of treatment used with children who are typically ages 3 - 12. Play is the natural language of children. In play therapy it is their opportunity to play out their feelings and problems just as adults talk during therapy. Through Play Therapy children communicate their inner world and heal. Research shows that Play Therapy is an effective treatment model and typically works best when caregivers and/or family are actively involved.
WHAT TO EXPECT
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Prior to starting or scheduling sessions a free 15 minute phone consultation is set up where we can discuss reasons for treatment, scheduling and expectations. At this time, it is great to get a feel for if I am a good fit for your family and to ask any questions your may have.
Once we schedule a session I will send you paperwork to complete prior to the first session. This may include a Child History Form and other assessment reports that may be needed.
The first four- six sessions will consist of an intake evaluation for me to get to know you and your child/children.
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First I will meet with the caregivers alone. This gives us the opportunity to discuss concerns and child's history without the child present.
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Second session is an evaluation of how your child plays, interactions during play, and other data that I gather. This may be done through a parent-child play observation session when parent is given tasks to play with child and therapist is not involved OR a family play meeting that therapist will directly guide family through. During the family play meeting I will get to meet and interact with all family members living in the household in order to form a comprehensive assessment.
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Third, I will meet with one caregiver and the child. During this session I evaluate the child's capacity for focused topic discussion and individual play therapy.
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Fourth session will be held again with the caregivers alone. This will give us an opportunity to discuss feedback on assessments and review each caregivers family history. Our own parenting can be effected by how we were parented as children and it is important for the therapist to understand larger family dynamics. At this time, we will also develop a treatment plan together.
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If necessary I will add other evaluation sessions in before the feedback session.
Weekly sessions there after will follow a specialized treatment plan to address your family/child's needs and build strengths. About once a month your weekly session will be replaced with a mindful parenting meeting to help you as the caregiver address your child's behaviors.
