Category: Play Therapy
The Good Therapy Blog
February 18th, 2011 |
Without playing with fantasy, no creative work has ever yet come to birth. The debt we owe to the play of imagination if incalculable.
-C.G. Jung
Jung wrote about the need for finding and living our myth, our story, as he grew older, he wrote his most important works and found his own unique ways to play. We need new stories that weave playfulness, gratitude, and compassion for self and others. Re-writing your myth or story can help you understand more fully your core values. Your story reflects your uniqueness and the many gifts you have to offer others. If you fully expressed your values,... Read More
February 17th, 2011 |
I love this quote; I have to work so hard to play. For many of us play does not come easily. Try wrapping your arms around the idea that you are not your work. What makes you successful? What do you consider achievements? If your list of successes and achievements are all on the highly difficult side of things then I would like to suggest a slight adjustment. Are you successful when things come easily or when you feel good about what you achieved?
I love what Phil Porter, co-founder of InterPlay has to say:
Get on
Get off
Get on with it Read More
February 17th, 2011 |
How many times have I heard “So, do you have a manual for my kid?” We learn from very early on in parenting that there is no such thing. Sure, there are generalizations about milestones, abilities and limitations, but just as adults are so different from one another, kids can be as well. For first time parents, it is hard to know what's normal for a certain age or what a typical reaction is when going through a stressful experience.
When kids come to therapy, work with parents can be as important as with the child. It's very common to want to know if a child's behavior is normal. Also, if... Read More
February 17th, 2011 |
A GoodTherapy.org News Summary
Affection between grandparents and their grandchildren is one thing. But it can be hard for grown grandchildren and their grandparents to relate to one another. We know how important familial bonds are for a person’s mental health and sense of social support. So how, family researchers wondered, do we find common ground across generations? In a recent study published in Family Relations and funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, authors looked at grandparent-grown... Read More
© Copyright 2011 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Mountain View Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
January 11th, 2011 |
It seems like most New Years resolutions are taken from people’s “should” list, and are about giving up pleasures, restricting pleasures, or working harder at something. I would like to propose an alternative for people who already aren’t able to enjoy much.
I was raised to believe that life was about working hard to provide food and shelter and other necessities for myself and my family. There was the implication that human beings, like all animals, had to struggle to survive, and everything else was secondary, if even possible. Since these beliefs were the air that I breathed... Read More
December 14th, 2010 |
Holidaze is not a misspelling. I use it because it is so indicative of what the holidays can feel like—a holy daze! As we run around buying gifts and preparing our foods and celebrations, it is so easy to forget ourselves and go far beyond our limits. When the gift opening or the meal or party that we’ve been so busy planning and preparing for finally arrives, we wonder why it’s hard to enjoy it. We wonder why we feel so exhausted, strung out and stressed. This article is a reminder to remember yourself in the rush of the holidays. What would it be like to really nurture yourself during... Read More
December 13th, 2010 |
Both children and adults learn through play. This of course is not news to those of us in the field of play. What is news is the fact that we need to improve the quality of play for everyone. Many parents and educators are no longer in touch with the need for play for children in our driven, achievement-oriented culture.
In neighborhoods without a park or playground the incidence of childhood obesity increases 29% (Health Affairs, KaBOOM! 2010)
What are the benefits of play?
Physical health is improved.
Psychological health is improved
1. Play helps children use their imagination.
2.... Read More
December 6th, 2010 |
During therapeutic play with children, therapists watch, listen, and interact during moments when a child may be giving voice to images, emotion, and story.
“Image” implies an object or person of attachment from the child’s past, “emotion” implies feelings from past relationships or that the child may be feeling presently and in their current relationships, and “story” implies the coming together of a narrative that all children accumulate pieces of over time.
As children work to make sense of their world, they often try on different ways to language meanings, experiences,... Read More
November 12th, 2010 |
A recent article in the Friday Journal section of the Wall Street Journal, dated November 5, 2010 states that preschoolers, aged 2 to 5, spend an average of more than 32 hours in front of the TV screen each week, according to Nielsen. To add to this horrific statistic a large percentage of preschoolers watch TV from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Two different views of television programming seem to have emerged for young children—curriculum vs. storytelling. External pressures stemming from “no child left behind” and societal conformity has created a plethora of PBS shows and other children programming... Read More
October 24th, 2010 |
A GoodTherapy.org News Summary
As more Americans warm to the value of preventative health care for physical health, it’s a good time to address how prevention benefits mental health as well. In a report published in the American Journal of Public Health, researchers concluded that investments in “mental health promotion and protection” not only complements the treatment (e.g. therapy, counseling, etc.) of mental illness when it arises, but these investments can reduce the risk of mental illness in the first place.
When... Read More
© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Bellevue Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
October 11th, 2010 |
Sally does not stop for breakfast and instead goes straight from her bed to her desk. She begins typing on the computer while unknowingly holding her breath. Jumping from one website to the next she feels busy. Her muscles tense. She pushes herself to continue working. By the end of the day, she is exhausted and restless. Feeling very tired and wired she takes a sleeping pill to go to sleep. This daily work pattern continues until she finds herself sick in bed with the flu. Illness brings on a needed a period of rest.
Spending time in her garden or even taking a break for lunch has become less... Read More
August 31st, 2010 |
Standing in line a few weeks ago at my local Whole Foods market, Time magazine caught my eye. Its cover had an idyllic full page picture of a young boy skipping stones on a pond with the headline “THE CASE AGAINST SUMMER VACATION”. I caught my breath and groaned shaking my head in dismay. The sub title read our children are falling behind and loose even more after summer break.
I have since read the article. Some of the concern is directed to lower income children who as the article states are often 3 grade levels behind their more affluent peers. I certainly agree that more enrichment... Read More
June 5th, 2010 |
Therapy and counseling are services often thought about in relation to their abilities to help adults work past some of life's greatest challenges, but child psychology has been in extensive development for many decades, allowing for meaningful, targeted therapeutic services for the young. Recently, a mother whose two young daughters have faced the early death of their father described her observations about the practice of child therapy, noting that the ability of professionals to work with children through the medium of play... Read More
© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Orlando Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
April 3rd, 2010 |
For those who have never experienced or studied play therapy for children, the practice may seem overly simplistic or far removed from the “serious” work undertaken in other forms of treatment such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or CBT. Yet play therapy can be a reliable and powerful source of self-improvement and understanding, notes an expert recently asked about the purpose and methodology of the practice. Through creating a safe and empathetic environment, play therapists allow children to express... Read More
© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Tempe Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
