Therapeutic Play

Intervention

By: Aderlin Chung Kim Yuk

Definition

A form of counseling or psychotherapy that

usesplayto communicate with and help
children to prevent or resolve psychosocial
challenges.
Is a child's natural medium of selfexpression. It is an opportunity which is given
to the child to 'play out' his feelings and
problems just as, in certain types of adult
therapy, an individual 'talks out' his difficulties.

Helpful for :
Children who
are/dealing with/have
been experienced/
diagnosed with:
Witnessed
domestic violence
Trauma
Adopted/foster care
issue
Loss issue
Attention Deficit
Disorder
(ADD/ADD)
Serious
accident/disaster

Purposes:
Helping children to
become:
More self-reliant
More accepting of
themselves
Better problem
solvers
Better able to
assume
responsibility for
their own behaviors

Reduces anxiety
Benefits:
about traumatic
events in the
child's life
Facilitates a child's
expression of
feelings
Promotes selfconfidence and a
sense of
competence
Develops a sense
of trust in self and
others
Creates or
enhances healthy
bonding in
relationships
Enhances creativity
and playfulness
Promotes
appropriate
behaviour

Principles of Play
Therapy

The therapist:
Is genuinely interested in the child and
develops a warm, caring relationship
Creates a feeling of safety and permissiveness
in the relationship so the child feels free to
explore and express self completely
Always sensitive to the childs feelings and
gently reflects those feelings in such a manner
that the child develops self-understanding.

Principles of Play
Therapy

Believes deeply in the childs capacity to act

responsibly, respects the childs ability to solve
personal problems, and allows the child to do so.
Trusts the childs inner direction, allows the child to
lead in all areas of the relationship, and resists any
urge to direct the childs play or conversation.
Appreciates the gradual nature of the therapeutic
process and does not attempt to hurry the process.
Establishes only those therapeutic limits which help
the child accepts personal and appropriate
relationship responsibility.

Four skills in Play

Therapy

1. Structuring - introduces and ends the play sessions in a

manner that helps children understand the sessions are
different from regular life.
2. Emphatic listening/responses - attune to their childrens
feelings and show acceptance and understanding of them
3. Child-centered imaginary play involves therapist playing
out roles assigned by their child and in accordance with the
childs wishes
4. Limit setting- therapist establishes authority when needed
through clear boundaries in which children are given a
chance to self-control their behaviours, but are enforced by
therapist if they do not.

Play Therapy Session

Martin is a 7-year-old boy. He easily gets restless, and acts on

impulses that get him into trouble at home and school. He has
been like this, since he was around 2 years old and not grown
out of it. He feels bad about himself, he feels angry because
"it's not fair" and he feels scared when he faces the grownups
not being able to control him or themselves when things get
really bad.

Play therapy session

Session 1: Structuring the session
Session 2: emphatic response and therapeutic
limit setting

References

Rye, N. (2010). Child-Centred Play Therapy. In: JH Stone,

M Blouin, editors. International Encyclopedia of
Rehabilitation. Available online:
http://cirrie.buffalo.edu/encyclopedia/en/article/275/
Garofolo, S. (2011). Play Therapy for Children. Retrieved
from
http://www.playtherapyforchildren.com/index.html#Top
Phyllis, B. (2014). Counseling Today. Retrieved from
http://ct.counseling.org/2014/08/involving-parents-inchild-centered-play-therapy/

Therapeutic
Storytelling
Intervention (TSI)

By: Bernadette Mening Jau

Brief background
developed by Ron Phillips, M.F.C.C..
Ron lives and works in Auckland, where he runs
Therapeutic Storytelling Intervention
International Ltd.
Gems of the first Water.

Definition
- is a teaching methodology using the art of
storytelling as a very effective means of bringing
about positive behavioural change in the lives of
children and adults.
- a powerful means to assist and enable our young
people to grow with a healthy sense of self,
healthy values and the potential to make choices
for themselves that will present them with a
positive future.

Purposes
adapting to and accommodating many changes.
Growth Spurts - they can feel awkward or self-conscious about
how they look, especially if they are developing at a rate different
from their peers.
Expanding relationships - their interaction with peers,
family/extended family, siblings and teachers can sometimes
prove difficult and may cause conflict.
Challenges at school - doing well and fitting in with this new
social setting.
Hopes of parents - achieving or having social, emotional and
academic success.
Social challenges - their need to find their own place among
peers and in society.

Advantages
1. Cognitive organisation
-. student comes with unorganized feelings or life
events.
2. Externalized mode of presentation
-. decreased defensiveness by talking about other
people
3. Staying power of stories
-. a great deal of personal significance.

4. The participating students, in that each one is

given the opportunity in a non threatening way,
to look at their own behaviour honestly and
develop good decision making skills;
5. School teachers and others, who manage groups
of students, in that a natural by-product is its
effectiveness as a classroom/group management
tool, and
6. Parents, in that the effectiveness of the child's
good decision making will be evident also in the
home.

How therapeutic stories help with coping

methods?
- options about what to do when presented
difficult issues
- new possibilities, creative solutions to
overcoming problems
- ways to dealing more effectively with emotional
difficulties.
- options for new ways of reacting to situations.

Important notes
Stories can be:
1. fantastical
2. absurd
3. do not put unnecessary character into the story
4. can be interactive

Ways to conduct this

therapy
Starting
1. Set a therapeutic objective
2. Think of a strategy to achieve this change

Develop a framework
1. Put the issue into a different metaphorical
context.. to which the child can relate to.
2. Borrow ideas from stories you know
3. Present the main character as experience the
same emotional problems as the child
4. Show the methods used by the main character to
the child.

Further development
1. Show how these methods lead your character
problems which lead to failure- metaphorical
crisis.
Resolution
2. Dont move too quick - story becomes
unbelievable
3. Culminates with a celebration in which the
protagonists special worth is acknowledge.

Therapeutic
storytelling
Session

Skylar is a 12-year-old girl. She is academically competent.

However, she often skips co-curricular session because she
thinks that co-curricular activity in school is a waste of her
time. She is a member of Red Crescent Society in school and
Badminton Club. She does not enjoy the co-curricular
activities. Her attendance rate is unsatisfying. Her teacher
warns her a few times but she did not listen.

Art Therapy

By: Wilbet Ikat

Definition

Art therapy is a form of psychotherapy that

uses art media as its primary mode of
communication. It is practiced by qualified,
registered Art Therapists who work with
children, young people, adults and the elderly.
(British Association of Art Therapists
(BAAT)


The American Art
describes it this way:

Therapy

Association

Art therapy is the therapeutic use of art

making, within a professional relationship, by
people who experience illness, trauma or
challenges in living, and by people who seek
personal development.


Through creating art and reflecting on the art
products and processes, people can increase
awareness of self and others cope with
symptoms, stress and traumatic experiences;
enhance cognitive abilities; and enjoy the lifeaffirming pleasures of making art.[3]


Art therapy is a mental health profession that
uses the creative process of art making to
improve and enhance the physical, mental
and emotional well-being of individuals of all
ages. Art therapy integrates the fields of
human development, visual art (drawing,
painting, sculpture, and other art forms), and
the creative process with models of counseling
and psychotherapy.


It is based on the belief that the creative
process involved in artistic self-expression
helps people to resolve conflicts and
problems,
develop
interpersonal
skills,
manage behaviour, reduce stress, increase
self-esteem and self-awareness, and achieve
insight.


Clients who can use art therapy may have a
wide range of difficulties, disabilities or
diagnoses. These include, for example,
emotional, behavioral or mental health
problems, learning or physical disabilities, lifelimiting conditions, brain-injury or neurological
conditions and physical illness.


Art therapy may be provided for groups, or for
individuals, depending on clients needs. It is
not a recreational activity or an art lesson,
although the sessions can be enjoyable.
Clients do not need to have any previous
experience or expertise in art.

Purpose

Malchiodi (2006) provides an example of what

an art therapy session involves and how it is
different from an art class. In most art
therapy sessions, the focus is on your inner
experienceyour feelings, perceptions, and
imagination.

While art therapy may involve learning

skills or art techniques, the emphasis is
generally first on developing and
expressing images that come from inside
the person, rather than those he or she
sees in the outside world. And while
some traditional art classes may ask you
to paint or draw from your imagination,
in art therapy, your inner world of
images, feelings, thoughts, and ideas are
always of primary importance to the
experience.

Characteristics

Art therapy can take place in a variety of

different settings, as therapists each have
their own preferred methods of constructing
therapy, and a range of intended goals
depending upon the clients case.


Offered on either the individual or group level
depending on which is better for the individual
based upon assessment.
Prevalent in schools as a means of therapeutic
tools for children because of their interest in
art and creativity as a means of expression


Can benefit children with a variety of issues,
such as learning disabilities, speech and
language disorders, behavioral disorders, and
other emotional disturbances that might be
hindering a childs learning .[43]


Similar to other psychologists that work in
schools, art therapists should be able to
diagnose the problems facing their student
clients, and individualize treatment and
interventions. Art therapists work closely with
teachers and parents, in order to implement
and carry out their therapy strategies

Process

Therapy comes from the Greek word

therapeia, which means to be attentive to.
This meaning underscores the art therapy
process in two ways.
In most cases, a skilled professional attends
to the individual who is making the art. This
persons guidance is key to the therapeutic
process. This supportive relationship is
necessary to guide the art-making experience
and to help the individual find meaning
through it along the way. It helps the
individual trust themselves more.


The other important aspect is the attendance
of the individual to his or her own personal
process of making art and to giving the art
product personal meaningi.e., finding a
story, description, or meaning for the art.


Very few therapies depend as much on the
active participation of the individual (p. 24).
In art therapy, the art therapist facilitates the
persons exploration of both materials and
narratives about art products created during a
session.

Activity

Divide the group into pairs and give each person in

the pair a different color marker and a blank paper.
Each participant takes their marker and draws five
lines on a piece of paper. The lines should not be
touching, other than that; they can be any size or
shape. Each person repeats this on ten pieces of
paper.
When everyone has finished drawing lines on the
piece of paper they exchange with the other
person.


The group leader sets a timer for 2 minutes
and cues everyone to start drawing on the
first piece of paper at the same time. The
directive is to use all five lines in the drawing
to create a picture. The only rule is that the
original five lines need to still remain visible in
their original color when the drawing is
completed and all five lines must be
incorporated in the drawing no matter how
silly the drawing may turn out to be.


When the 2 minutes are up have each person give
the stack of now completed drawings back to their
partner and then look at the drawings together.
What do they notice about the collection? Are
there similar themes, similar objects? Avoid using
any adjectives like good, bad, as it relates to the
drawings themselves. Was it fun, was it boring, did
it feel silly; did it get harder or easier as the
drawings went on, more intricate or less? Were
you judging the pictures while you were drawing
them or when they were finished?

Thank You