Play Therapy

Contact Dean & Associates

Phone:
(712) 274-6729

Address:
3549 Southern Hills Drive
Sioux City, IA 51106

Therapist help children address and resolve their own problems. Play therapy builds on the natural way children learn about themselves and their relationships in the world. Through play therapy, children learn to communicate with others, express feelings, modify behavior, develop problem solving skills and learn new ways of relating. Play provides a safe psychological distance from their problems and facilitates developmentally appropriate expression of thoughts and feelings.

PLAY THERAPY

• During your first session, you will enter the assessment phase of treatment. This is generally the time when the child gets to know, and begin developing a trusting relationship with the therapist. Sometimes the child will be resistant in this phase. This is normal. It is not an indication that treatment won’t be worthwhile. Talk to the therapist if you have a concern. You should be involved in your child’s treatment.

• You may hear your child talk about “playing games”, “playing with toys”, and they might even say, “the therapist talks funny”. This is normal, and it doesn’t mean the therapist isn’t doing therapeutic work with your child.  A play therapist may use a range of tactics, techniques and theoretical applications to treat your child. Some parents become concerned when they hear from their child that they are “playing games” with the therapist, leaving the parent feeling like, “Well, I can play games with my child!” This may leave a parent wondering what the therapist is doing, and this sort of “play” is benefiting their child and helping to treat the concerns that brought the parent and child to treatment in the first place. Understandable concerns. Games, Verbal Reflection (which to a child often sounds like the therapist is “repeating” what the child say), sand play, and the use of specific toys in the playroom to help the therapist engage in the child’s world are all very standard means of therapeutic engagement and treatment.

• Your Child may be playing in the sand or paint, so please dress them knowing that they may get messy.

• Many parents want to know how long treatment will take and how often they will be bringing their child to therapy. There is no way to know this answer. Every child, parent and family has different needs. In my practice, I will usually request weekly meetings with a child for 4-6 weeks (the assessment phase), whereupon the parent(s) and I will collaborate on a plan for the most effective treatment.

• It’s important to trust the process. Treatment isn’t usually a one time, fix it all kind of process. It takes time. Time to develop a relationship, trust and rapport. It should not be a pressure cooker, where the child is expected to make immediate changes in an unreasonable amount of time. This will only increase the symptoms you already have concerns about. If you feel like the therapy is not being effective, talk to the therapist about your concerns.

• Parental Involvement is Very Important. Even if parents are divorced or otherwise separated, there is a very important place for each parent in their child’s therapy. If ever, as a parent, you do not feel right about something your child has said or something the therapist has said, it is your responsibility to address this concern to the therapist as soon as possible. As parent’s, you are your children’s foremost advocates, their #1 Fans and the people who are most intimately aware of how your child thinks, functions, behaves and reacts. Without your insights, therapy is much less likely to be successful.

• The child’s privacy is Very Important. Just as you would like your privacy protected if you, as an adult, entered into therapy, a child will benefit from treatment better if they are not expected to elaborate on what they have done in therapy. My practice is to explain some of the limits of confidentiality to both child and parent. After a session, it is appropriate for parents and teachers to let children know that they are interested in the childs experience in the play session, but please do not question the child about the experiences or artwork.

• Closure is very important.  The therapy experience is highly personal, for both children and adults. It is important that when it’s time for the therapy to come to an end, that the child has knowledge of when this is going to happen, and has the opportunity to say goodbye. There should always be a “goodbye” or “termination” session, to protect and assure the child that the reason this important relationship is ending is not because they have done something wrong, and to allow them to end the relationship on their terms. There may be times when the child doesn’t want a closure session, for any number of reasons. In these times, a parent and counselor should consult on the best plan.