Latest / Next Level Play Therapy: A Podcast for Play Therapy Excellence / 4 Basic Skills for Play Therapists

Transcript

4 Basic Skills for Play Therapists · Next Level Play Therapy: A Podcast for Play Therapy Excellence

• 0:02
  Cathi Spooner: Welcome to Next Level Play Therapy, a weekly podcast dedicated to supporting the next generation of child and adolescent therapists to provide exceptional play therapy services.
• 0:14
  Cathi Spooner: We'll explore all things play therapy to elevate your work with children and adolescents using the therapeutic powers of play.
• 0:23
  Cathi Spooner: I'll discuss practical tips and ideas, so you can provide a transformative experience for your young clients and make a real difference in their lives.
• 0:34
  Cathi Spooner: So get ready to take your play therapy skills to the next level and make a lasting impact in the lives of children, adolescents, and families.
• 0:47
  Cathi Spooner: Hey there, good morning.
• 0:49
  Cathi Spooner: So today we have another episode of my weekly podcast where I discuss all things play therapy.
• 0:58
  Cathi Spooner: So today I want to discuss what are the four basic play therapy skills that are critical for you to develop proficiency with when you are learning how to provide play therapy with children, adolescents, and families.
• 1:17
  Cathi Spooner: And so there are certain things that set play therapy apart from simply pulling out games and toys and using more of a traditional talk therapy, kind of adult model with children.
• 1:32
  Cathi Spooner: Play therapy is actually a fundamental shift in the way in which it's used that's, that make it different than just using a traditional play therapy model.
• 1:46
  Cathi Spooner: And the four skills that I want to talk about today are part of that fundamental shift for providing really good play therapy services.
• 1:58
  Cathi Spooner: So one of the things that I, I often hear when I'm talking with people who are interested in play therapy and trying to figure out what it is.
• 2:07
  Cathi Spooner: And I'm, I'm usually talking to them about my Play Therapy Academy and, um, we're kind of figuring out, well, is this a good fit for you?
• 2:17
  Cathi Spooner: And in my mind, a lot of times it is, and here's why.
• 2:22
  Cathi Spooner: Because I hear this story a lot, and in fact, this was me, like 30 years ago, same thing.
• 2:31
  Cathi Spooner: I remember I always wanted to work with children and adolescents, always, since I was little.
• 2:38
  Cathi Spooner: Um, long story short, found my way into clinical social work, got my master's degree, graduated, got my first job.
• 2:49
  Cathi Spooner: And of course my focus was, I want jobs that are going to be focused on working with children, adolescents, and families.
• 2:57
  Cathi Spooner: And so my first job was working with children, adolescents, and families, and they had a playroom.
• 3:04
  Cathi Spooner: And I had been introduced to play therapy when I was in special education as a teacher.
• 3:11
  Cathi Spooner: So I knew what it was.
• 3:12
  Cathi Spooner: I just didn't know how it worked or what you had to do to learn how to do it.
• 3:18
  Cathi Spooner: And I knew, I knew that it did require some training and a supervisor that could help me take what I learned and apply it in real time.
• 3:30
  Cathi Spooner: So I get my first job, they have a playroom.
• 3:34
  Cathi Spooner: I'm so excited.
• 3:36
  Cathi Spooner: Like nobody knows how to use it.
• 3:38
  Cathi Spooner: I, I, like, I remember asking each of my different, their, uh, supervisor over the years, like, I don't, I don't know what I'm doing.
• 3:47
  Cathi Spooner: Like, here's what they're doing in the sessions, but I don't know what it means.
• 3:51
  Cathi Spooner: And well intentioned.
• 3:54
  Cathi Spooner: Just, you know, do your best.
• 3:55
  Cathi Spooner: It'll work out.
• 3:56
  Cathi Spooner: Or, you know, if you don't feel comfortable doing it that way, you know, essentially do worksheets.
• 4:02
  Cathi Spooner: Um, and that didn't feel good to me either.
• 4:05
  Cathi Spooner: And in fact, I saw how it didn't work very well.
• 4:09
  Cathi Spooner: Um, So, fast forward probably 10 years before I, I found somebody who actually knew how to use this play therapy thing.
• 4:21
  Cathi Spooner: A friend of mine told me about this training.
• 4:23
  Cathi Spooner: I went with sand tray training.
• 4:27
  Cathi Spooner: Life was transformed for me.
• 4:29
  Cathi Spooner: She connected, my friend connected me with a supervisor and that made all the difference.
• 4:37
  Cathi Spooner: It was a game changer and what I find it's kind of still happening that well intentioned people trying to help new therapists who they're supervising or overseeing who don't know about play therapy will say, Oh, you know, it'll be okay.
• 4:57
  Cathi Spooner: Just, you know, just, you know, play with them, it'll be fine.
• 5:01
  Cathi Spooner: And the people that I talk to know that, that doesn't really work very well and you end up feeling like a fraud.
• 5:08
  Cathi Spooner: I felt like a giant fraud.
• 5:10
  Cathi Spooner: You feel like a fraud.
• 5:12
  Cathi Spooner: You, you know you're not doing the right, you know, you, there, you know there's a better way but you just don't know how.
• 5:20
  Cathi Spooner: And, and to me, learning how to use some of these fundamental skills in play therapy is key.
• 5:31
  Cathi Spooner: And so today, that's what I want to talk about, these four key skills.
• 5:37
  Cathi Spooner: I'll talk a little bit more about Play Therapy Academy at the end if you're interested in that.
• 5:42
  Cathi Spooner: Um, one of the reasons I created more of a program around play therapy consultation is to provide a little more structure and support along the learning journey, because I found that was really, really helpful.
• 5:58
  Cathi Spooner: And, and to me, learning to use these four skills that I'm going to talk about today.
• 6:04
  Cathi Spooner: It does.
• 6:05
  Cathi Spooner: It takes training.
• 6:06
  Cathi Spooner: Like I'm going to talk about them today for sure.
• 6:09
  Cathi Spooner: And to really learn how to use them though, you really need to do some consultation with somebody who's been doing play therapy, you know, a seasoned play therapist who can help you learn how to use them.
• 6:25
  Cathi Spooner: And what does it look like in your actual session?
• 6:28
  Cathi Spooner: So when your client shows up in your office and you, you know, you have all this good information, they're looking at you like, okay, I'm ready for my session.
• 6:37
  Cathi Spooner: And you're like, Oh, darn.
• 6:38
  Cathi Spooner: Now what do I do?
• 6:39
  Cathi Spooner: You know, that pit in your stomach or, you know, that not in your throat, you're like, and that's it.
• 6:45
  Cathi Spooner: Slow panic that begins to raise up your body.
• 6:49
  Cathi Spooner: We have all been there.
• 6:51
  Cathi Spooner: Um, and to me, that's where the consultation supervision can be a game changer.
• 6:58
  Cathi Spooner: And I think it's also important, which is one of the reasons I do these weekly live stream webinars is to, um, kind of help people understand what play therapy is, but also support the play therapy work that people are doing as you're in that learning journey.
• 7:18
  Cathi Spooner: So, Facebook, uh, if somebody, welcome Facebook user, trust the process 100%, and when I was learning, I still say it, but when I was learning initially, and I also tell people, that people in my consultation program, Play Therapy Academy, trust the process.
• 7:36
  Cathi Spooner: You will get there.
• 7:37
  Cathi Spooner: Trust the process.
• 7:39
  Cathi Spooner: Um, because it doesn't make much sense in the beginning.
• 7:43
  Cathi Spooner: Hey, Steph.
• 7:44
  Cathi Spooner: Awesome.
• 7:45
  Cathi Spooner: Absolutely.
• 7:46
  Cathi Spooner: Steph.
• 7:46
  Cathi Spooner: Trust the process.
• 7:48
  Cathi Spooner: Um, which reminds me, hey, if you're watching, I would love to see who's here.
• 7:54
  Cathi Spooner: So uh, post your name in the comments, post where you're from.
• 8:00
  Cathi Spooner: What are you, uh, what population do you work with?
• 8:04
  Cathi Spooner: Where do you work?
• 8:05
  Cathi Spooner: Those kinds of things.
• 8:07
  Cathi Spooner: Are you using play therapy?
• 8:09
  Cathi Spooner: What type of play therapy are you using?
• 8:11
  Cathi Spooner: Love to see who's joining me.
• 8:14
  Cathi Spooner: I go live every week on Wednesdays at 7 a.
• 8:20
  Cathi Spooner: m.
• 8:20
  Cathi Spooner: Pacific time here in the U.
• 8:22
  Cathi Spooner: S.
• 8:23
  Cathi Spooner: I go live every week and talk about all things Play Therapy and Expressive Arts.
• 8:28
  Cathi Spooner: So I live stream onto my Instagram channel, my YouTube channel, LinkedIn, and in my Facebook group which is where, uh, looks like Barbara.
• 8:40
  Cathi Spooner: Hey Barbara, welcome! Barbara from Las Vegas.
• 8:43
  Cathi Spooner: Ooh, I'm like right up the road from Vegas.
• 8:47
  Cathi Spooner: So I always like meeting with people who are nearby.
• 8:50
  Cathi Spooner: Um, I'm kind of in between Las Vegas and Southern Utah.
• 8:54
  Cathi Spooner: So I kind of get the best of both in there.
• 8:58
  Cathi Spooner: Um, so another Facebook user said, I relate a lot as an intern, just getting my RTP, RPT, and we've had a play therapy room with no play therapists.
• 9:10
  Cathi Spooner: Right.
• 9:10
  Cathi Spooner: I know it's.
• 9:11
  Cathi Spooner: still happens.
• 9:12
  Cathi Spooner: Um, so that's good.
• 9:14
  Cathi Spooner: You're just starting your play therapy journey.
• 9:16
  Cathi Spooner: That is awesome.
• 9:18
  Cathi Spooner: Um, Hey Polly, how are you?
• 9:21
  Cathi Spooner: Polly was in my, uh, recent pop up.
• 9:24
  Cathi Spooner: It was always nice to see you.
• 9:27
  Cathi Spooner: So, uh, so I do go live every week in my Facebook group.
• 9:30
  Cathi Spooner: If you are on Facebook and you're interested, I have a Facebook group for child and adolescent therapists using play therapy and expressive arts.
• 9:41
  Cathi Spooner: It's for child and adolescent therapists.
• 9:44
  Cathi Spooner: You do have to answer all the questions or you won't get in the group.
• 9:48
  Cathi Spooner: So make sure you answer all of the questions.
• 9:51
  Cathi Spooner: Um, So, and the group is called Play and Expressive Arts Therapy Playground.
• 9:58
  Cathi Spooner: So, if you're on Facebook and you're interested in the Facebook group, Play and Expressive Arts Therapy Playground, pop on over there and say hello.
• 10:08
  Cathi Spooner: So, hey Sarah from, uh, ooh, from South Wales in the UK, play therapist and nurse specialist for children.
• 10:17
  Cathi Spooner: Interesting.
• 10:17
  Cathi Spooner: So, Do you work in, uh, like a hospital situation, Sarah, or are you like inpatient or something like that?
• 10:27
  Cathi Spooner: Or that's interesting.
• 10:29
  Cathi Spooner: What a good combination though.
• 10:31
  Cathi Spooner: Um, because I often, I often, I'm a firm believer that because we are working with children, as play therapists, we have the opportunity to, because we, that's one of the competencies that play, uh, the Association for Play Therapy came up with for play therapist is understanding childhood problems and child recognizing childhood stages of development.
• 11:01
  Cathi Spooner: So I'm, I'm a firm believer that we are, we are in a, So, um, I unique position as play therapists to recognize any other like childhood problems or developmental things going on that may, may need further assessment to, and it may be contributing to their mental health challenges.
• 11:22
  Cathi Spooner: But also, we're in a position to be able to maybe help them get some, some assessment and intervention earlier than maybe if it, if it gets missed.
• 11:34
  Cathi Spooner: So I think that's awesome.
• 11:35
  Cathi Spooner: Hey, Barbara.
• 11:37
  Cathi Spooner: Barbara's in my Facebook group.
• 11:40
  Cathi Spooner: That's awesome.
• 11:41
  Cathi Spooner: So, so today I want to talk about what these four skills are.
• 11:47
  Cathi Spooner: And these are four skills that are regardless of your play therapy model.
• 11:54
  Cathi Spooner: So these, these, so every, so what we know about play therapy is play therapy is grounded in theory.
• 12:01
  Cathi Spooner: Theory dictates how children access those therapeutic powers of play and how the play therapy is aplied so theory drives application is what I say.
• 12:13
  Cathi Spooner: So we're always making sure that we ground our play therapy.
• 12:18
  Cathi Spooner: We we are developing skills and some kind of theoretical model that dictates how the our clients access those therapeutic powers of play and how that model is applied.
• 12:30
  Cathi Spooner: So the theory is also going to dictate how you use these skills because the theory will, um, You'll learn how that theory uses tracking, that's one, how reflection of feelings, limit setting and pacing, all of those are going to be really heavily influenced by whatever your theory model is.
• 12:57
  Cathi Spooner: So let's, Let's take a little deeper dive into these skills.
• 13:03
  Cathi Spooner: The first one is tracking.
• 13:05
  Cathi Spooner: So what is tracking?
• 13:07
  Cathi Spooner: Tracking is essentially the therapist observing and noticing, following along in the play therapy session, what is going on with your client.
• 13:20
  Cathi Spooner: You're, you're verbally tracking.
• 13:23
  Cathi Spooner: Uh, if you're using child centered play therapy, that is a fundamental skill.
• 13:28
  Cathi Spooner: is tracking and we're verbally tracking alongside of the client.
• 13:33
  Cathi Spooner: If you're using a different theoretical model, that's going to look a little bit different and we're still tracking.
• 13:39
  Cathi Spooner: We're still observing what is going on with clients, what kind of behaviors are they demonstrating what are you seeing in there?
• 13:50
  Cathi Spooner: You know, what are they doing with the toys?
• 13:52
  Cathi Spooner: What is their interaction with you?
• 13:55
  Cathi Spooner: What statements are they making?
• 13:57
  Cathi Spooner: What behaviors are they doing while they're making the statements?
• 14:01
  Cathi Spooner: All of these things you are tracking alongside your observing and watching and noticing and kind of making sense of what's going on in that session through that tracking process.
• 14:17
  Cathi Spooner: And so how does that facilitate healing?
• 14:21
  Cathi Spooner: It's the way in which you connect with your client that lets them know you're present and you are creating that safe space for them.
• 14:31
  Cathi Spooner: You see them.
• 14:32
  Cathi Spooner: You hear them, you're present with them in a nonjudgmental way.
• 14:37
  Cathi Spooner: And through that, you're kind of communicating that they're not alone in that process.
• 14:42
  Cathi Spooner: And you, you're providing that free and protected space for them to do what they need to do to work through what they need to do.
• 14:52
  Cathi Spooner: Which kind of goes back in a large part, goes back to what Steph mentioned earlier which is trust the process.
• 14:59
  Cathi Spooner: So we're trusting the process while we're also tracking alongside of them.
• 15:05
  Cathi Spooner: So that's the first skill and that's, that's why it's important and it will, how you do the tracking will be based on your theory model.
• 15:17
  Cathi Spooner: So the second skill is reflection of feelings.
• 15:22
  Cathi Spooner: So what, what is reflection of feelings?
• 15:25
  Cathi Spooner: It's your observation and labeling of the emotions that you see expressed in the play therapy session that you're so to do that, um, you are labeling the emotions, you're helping your client explore those emotions.
• 15:43
  Cathi Spooner: And it goes really hand in hand, I think, with tracking, especially in child centered play therapy.
• 15:49
  Cathi Spooner: We track alongside, um, child leads the way in child centered play therapy.
• 15:56
  Cathi Spooner: So I'll often make statements that are tracking behavior and statements as well as reflecting emotion.
• 16:04
  Cathi Spooner: So let's say, let's say my child centered play therapy.
• 16:09
  Cathi Spooner: So let's say my seven year old client is at the dollhouse and has a hammer and is banging on the dollhouse and has the people.
• 16:19
  Cathi Spooner: And then the, they're, they have like, he's banging on the dollhouse and using the hammer to kind of knock the the furniture around in the dollhouse, and then maybe he picks up two people figures, and there's a good guy and a bad guy, so to speak, and the bad guys coming into the house, and kind of making the good guy figure scared.
• 16:47
  Cathi Spooner: So my way of tracking plus reflecting feelings might be something like, Oh, that guy's really scared.
• 16:55
  Cathi Spooner: He's afraid that the, the robber is going to hurt him.
• 17:00
  Cathi Spooner: And that, so that's one way of tracking, but also reflecting emotion from a child centered play therapy standpoint Um, so you're picking out the emotions that are going on in the session and verbalizing those.
• 17:16
  Cathi Spooner: Um, another way of doing that is doing exploration of emotions and allowing your client to explore their emotions, label their emotions.
• 17:27
  Cathi Spooner: The, the purpose, how does that facilitate healing?
• 17:30
  Cathi Spooner: So what we know is learning how to recognize your emotions gives you information.
• 17:36
  Cathi Spooner: It allows children to understand what's going on, like what emotions they're having so they can figure out what the emotions are trying to tell them about what's going on, maybe what they need, and then helping them either use some skills, maybe they have to, maybe it's anxiety and they're experiencing a worry because they have these worry thoughts in their head.
• 18:03
  Cathi Spooner: And so you're doing some cognitive restructuring with that.
• 18:07
  Cathi Spooner: If you're using more of a CBT approach, you're going to do it that way.
• 18:12
  Cathi Spooner: It's a more directive approach.
• 18:14
  Cathi Spooner: So learning how to um, one, you're tracking alongside.
• 18:20
  Cathi Spooner: How does that tracking work?
• 18:23
  Cathi Spooner: What information are you paying attention to and tuning into and kind of mentally aware of?
• 18:31
  Cathi Spooner: It would be the same thing as if you are doing traditional talk therapy.
• 18:35
  Cathi Spooner: As a therapist, you're kind of tuning into what's going on your your adult client is telling you something, but you're also tuning in at that deeper level to understand what's going on with your client.
• 18:49
  Cathi Spooner: How are they interacting with you?
• 18:51
  Cathi Spooner: What kind of statements they're making?
• 18:54
  Cathi Spooner: What responses do they make to you when you make a statement?
• 18:58
  Cathi Spooner: So in play therapy, you do that through the play process, the play behaviors, and then you're also reflecting feelings.
• 19:06
  Cathi Spooner: But in play therapy, you can use the metaphor of the play to reflect those emotions.
• 19:14
  Cathi Spooner: And that metaphor provides a little more psychological distance for your client to safely kind of explore some of those emotions that may not be so socially acceptable.
• 19:28
  Cathi Spooner: I was, this was years ago, it might be 15 years ago now.
• 19:32
  Cathi Spooner: I remember I was doing this child centered play therapy session.
• 19:37
  Cathi Spooner: Child must've been like seven or eight or something.
• 19:39
  Cathi Spooner: And it was a little boy and he's doing, he was in the dollhouse and you know, there's death and destruction in the dollhouse.
• 19:47
  Cathi Spooner: And at one point he stuck the little baby figure in the oven.
• 19:52
  Cathi Spooner: You know, you, you can't do that outside of the play therapy session because it would be not socially acceptable and grownups would be like aghast, right?
• 20:03
  Cathi Spooner: Like, Oh my gosh, he's going to be a serial murderer.
• 20:06
  Cathi Spooner: Well, no, that's not really true.
• 20:08
  Cathi Spooner: He's working through some of those aggressive motions.
• 20:11
  Cathi Spooner: And so my tracking was what that was, oh, that baby's going in the oven.
• 20:18
  Cathi Spooner: Um, so then if I'm using this tone, it gives permission.
• 20:22
  Cathi Spooner: I'm not judgmental.
• 20:24
  Cathi Spooner: I'm matching his activity level and his emotional level going on there.
• 20:31
  Cathi Spooner: And, you know, clearly there was something going on for him that he was working through in the moment and provide doing that tracking and reflecting also gives that, um, permission in the playroom to work through emotions and issues going on that are that they're struggling with.
• 20:55
  Cathi Spooner: And we do it through the therapeutic powers of play based on the theoretical model.
• 21:04
  Cathi Spooner: So, hello, we have a Facebook user.
• 21:08
  Cathi Spooner: So, as an FYI, and honestly, it doesn't matter to me, um, because I'm going to go on my Facebook group later and post it.
• 21:15
  Cathi Spooner: Have a little chat, see who's in there.
• 21:17
  Cathi Spooner: But a as an FYI, I use a third party platform for streaming except on Instagram.
• 21:24
  Cathi Spooner: Instagram doesn't allow third party platforms, but on my YouTube channel, my Facebook group and in LinkedIn, uh, streamyard will ask for permission.
• 21:36
  Cathi Spooner: And if you grant permission, all that means is I can see your name.
• 21:41
  Cathi Spooner: Uh, it doesn't allow me to do anything else.
• 21:44
  Cathi Spooner: Um, but, you know, you don't have to post your name if you, you don't have to do that if you're not comfortable doing it.
• 21:50
  Cathi Spooner: Just, just FYI, that's what it is.
• 21:52
  Cathi Spooner: Um, so then the third, the third skill is limit setting.
• 22:00
  Cathi Spooner: And so based on your theoretical model, we'll also determine how you do that limit setting.
• 22:08
  Cathi Spooner: The thing about limit setting is you wanna make sure that it has a purpose.
• 22:14
  Cathi Spooner: And how you do the limit setting still maintains that therapeutic relationship, but also provide some structure.
• 22:25
  Cathi Spooner: So what's the purpose of limit setting?
• 22:28
  Cathi Spooner: The purpose of limit setting is to one, clearly communicate how, what, you know, what are, what are the behaviors that are.
• 22:39
  Cathi Spooner: expected within this therapeutic relationship.
• 22:43
  Cathi Spooner: We have, there are boundaries, right?
• 22:45
  Cathi Spooner: Boundaries, if we hold healthy boundaries, that's really helpful for the relationship.
• 22:52
  Cathi Spooner: And I, I always say that boundaries protect the relationship.
• 22:56
  Cathi Spooner: Like if I, I have, I have a rule for my playroom that you can't hit me, and you can't shoot me with the, with the Nerf gun.
• 23:07
  Cathi Spooner: Like, that's rule.
• 23:08
  Cathi Spooner: I don't want to be hit with the bullets, you know, the Nerf gun bullets, and I don't want to be hit.
• 23:14
  Cathi Spooner: Like, I don't enjoy that, and that, that behavior would make it hard for me to have unconditional positive regard for the child because I'll probably start dreading that child thinking, Oh, I really don't like that.
• 23:29
  Cathi Spooner: So I, so in that regard, I would set a limit to protect the relationship and it teaches that child what are the expectations for behavior in this relationship.
• 23:41
  Cathi Spooner: It also helps them take that, that learning in and apply it to other relationships outside of the playroom.
• 23:52
  Cathi Spooner: It also, limits also set, um, create a sense of safety and security.
• 23:59
  Cathi Spooner: Like we know there are limits in life.
• 24:02
  Cathi Spooner: Like if I, there are speed limits, right?
• 24:04
  Cathi Spooner: I know if I speed, and there's a police officer there.
• 24:09
  Cathi Spooner: I am going to get a ticket.
• 24:10
  Cathi Spooner: What's the purpose of the speed limit?
• 24:13
  Cathi Spooner: The purpose of the speed limit is to keep people safe.
• 24:16
  Cathi Spooner: There's a safe speed that we're supposed to keep.
• 24:19
  Cathi Spooner: And there are driving rules, right?
• 24:22
  Cathi Spooner: Driving laws.
• 24:23
  Cathi Spooner: The purpose is to keep us safe.
• 24:25
  Cathi Spooner: If I break one of these rules, also known as laws, then I will likely get a ticket.
• 24:31
  Cathi Spooner: And if I break too many of them, I will start getting in more and more legal trouble.
• 24:36
  Cathi Spooner: So, within the relationship, it's the same thing.
• 24:40
  Cathi Spooner: It harms the relationship if we don't have these healthy boundaries.
• 24:45
  Cathi Spooner: And that's a learning process in any relationship.
• 24:49
  Cathi Spooner: So the first part of the, the getting to know you process in play therapy is really helping the child to understand what are the expectations in the playroom for behavior.
• 25:05
  Cathi Spooner: So you really want to make sure that you clearly communicate that to the child and how you set that those limits are going to be dependent upon your play therapy theoretical model.
• 25:19
  Cathi Spooner: Like in child centered play therapy, there's a specific process that you go through.
• 25:25
  Cathi Spooner: There's a way that you explain it to the child and, um, how you set those limits when they need to be set.
• 25:33
  Cathi Spooner: And as play therapists, we are always kind of self assessing whether or not we need to set a limit.
• 25:40
  Cathi Spooner: What's the reason we need to set that limit?
• 25:42
  Cathi Spooner: And then how are we going to set that limit?
• 25:46
  Cathi Spooner: And that creates a sense of safety within the play therapy session for the child and that therapeutic relationship and keeping the child safe.
• 25:58
  Cathi Spooner: So, and then the fourth skill is pacing with the client.
• 26:03
  Cathi Spooner: So pacing really, um, honestly pacing is, these are all kind of go together in many ways.
• 26:12
  Cathi Spooner: and separated out.
• 26:14
  Cathi Spooner: These are what they are individually, but we, we tend to use these together.
• 26:19
  Cathi Spooner: So pacing really requires attunement.
• 26:22
  Cathi Spooner: It requires your ability to tune in with your client to recognize what are their cues, what's going on with them.
• 26:32
  Cathi Spooner: What does, um, also understanding developmental, uh, stages of your client.
• 26:40
  Cathi Spooner: What's typical at that?
• 26:42
  Cathi Spooner: And you're you're tuning in to kind of match their energy level.
• 26:47
  Cathi Spooner: Match you know, are they ready to move forward?
• 26:51
  Cathi Spooner: Do they need you to slow down a little bit?
• 26:55
  Cathi Spooner: All of this this really relies heavily on attunement, pacing with your client, and that's going to help them to feel safe and secure.
• 27:06
  Cathi Spooner: Also seen, heard, and understood.
• 27:09
  Cathi Spooner: And that, by its very self, is healing.
• 27:15
  Cathi Spooner: To feel seen, heard, and understood is healing.
• 27:21
  Cathi Spooner: You, and that's that being fully present in the moment and aware of what's going on.
• 27:26
  Cathi Spooner: This is why I love attachment and neuroscience.
• 27:29
  Cathi Spooner: That's one of my default theoretical models is neuroscience and attachment and tuning in using what Daniel Siegel calls as those resonant circuits.
• 27:41
  Cathi Spooner: To do that, you really have to understand, you know, this kind of brings us with transference and counter transference as well when we're attuned and we're tuning into what Daniel Siegel calls our resonant circuits, where we, he says we connect mind to mind, even physiologically.
• 28:00
  Cathi Spooner: So you can sometimes even feel the emotions in the room without anybody here saying a word.
• 28:09
  Cathi Spooner: You read facial cues, you read body language, you see interactions.
• 28:15
  Cathi Spooner: All of those are, uh, you're you tuning in with your client to recognize what's going on, and you use that information to see how fast or slow is the activity working or not working.
• 28:30
  Cathi Spooner: Does a certain does your client respond better to certain types of activities than others?
• 28:36
  Cathi Spooner: Do they need you to structure the session a little bit differently?
• 28:40
  Cathi Spooner: All of those kinds of things are going to be based on your tuning in.
• 28:47
  Cathi Spooner: Also known as pacing with your clients.
• 28:49
  Cathi Spooner: So that's, that's a really fundamental skill to make sure that we're doing that.
• 28:56
  Cathi Spooner: And as we're doing that, we're also aware of, okay, what's coming up in me versus my client.
• 29:03
  Cathi Spooner: What's, am I picking up on something?
• 29:06
  Cathi Spooner: Cause I'm tuned in.
• 29:07
  Cathi Spooner: What is that?
• 29:08
  Cathi Spooner: Is it my client or is it me?
• 29:10
  Cathi Spooner: All those kinds of things that, you know, that's why we're always tired.
• 29:14
  Cathi Spooner: Cause we're having to do all our work all the time to figure things out.
• 29:18
  Cathi Spooner: Sometimes I feel like, you know what?
• 29:19
  Cathi Spooner: I just don't want to tune in anymore.
• 29:22
  Cathi Spooner: I'm, I'm tuned out.
• 29:23
  Cathi Spooner: I just, it's hard.
• 29:25
  Cathi Spooner: All day long, we're doing this, which is good.
• 29:27
  Cathi Spooner: We want to make a difference.
• 29:28
  Cathi Spooner: We want to do it.
• 29:30
  Cathi Spooner: At the same time it, it can be exhausting.
• 29:34
  Cathi Spooner: So to me, that's one of the reasons you want to make sure you're doing your self care as well.
• 29:40
  Cathi Spooner: If you're finding like me, I'm like, ah, I don't want to tune anymore.
• 29:43
  Cathi Spooner: Um, that's usually a clue for me that I, I need to go do something fun or just have some quiet time or downtime.
• 29:52
  Cathi Spooner: So those, those are the four basic skills that every play therapist needs to understand and master in order to develop competency in play therapy.
• 30:07
  Cathi Spooner: So just, just to recap, really learning these basic skills are fundamental to play therapy, the process, and your play therapy theoretical model is going to dictate how you use these skills.
• 30:24
  Cathi Spooner: So that's learning the play therapy theoretical models is a really foundational part of becoming a play therapist and then how you apply these skills, how you use tracking, reflection of feelings, limit setting and pacing with clients with that theoretical model as part of your development process as a play therapist.
• 30:51
  Cathi Spooner: So that's it for today.
• 30:53
  Cathi Spooner: Um, if you're interested in Play Therapy Academy, I have a few more openings left.
• 31:00
  Cathi Spooner: I'm not sure how long I'm going to have these openings.
• 31:04
  Cathi Spooner: And then once I have two cohorts right now, I'm not doing any more.
• 31:08
  Cathi Spooner: Uh, when they're full, they're full and I won't be taking anybody, um, in Play Therapy Academy until there is an opening.
• 31:18
  Cathi Spooner: So Play Therapy Academy is, um, is basically, uh, it kind of, it's like a membership and a part of the membership we do.
• 31:29
  Cathi Spooner: group consult, group consultation calls, play therapy group consultation call video group meetings twice a month.
• 31:37
  Cathi Spooner: In those, in those meetings, two people are assigned to, we have a whole schedule.
• 31:46
  Cathi Spooner: We always have two people doing case presentations.
• 31:49
  Cathi Spooner: And as a group, we're kind of using those case presentations to learn how to apply, what to look for, looking for themes.
• 31:56
  Cathi Spooner: How do you do that tracking?
• 31:58
  Cathi Spooner: How do you conceptualize what's going on?
• 32:01
  Cathi Spooner: All the core skills you need to learn.
• 32:04
  Cathi Spooner: And then we're giving feedback to the people presenting, getting ideas, sharing ideas, sharing resources.
• 32:12
  Cathi Spooner: We have a great group of people in both the cohorts.
• 32:16
  Cathi Spooner: Um, so we're doing that twice a month.
• 32:19
  Cathi Spooner: And then also there are some foundational courses.
• 32:24
  Cathi Spooner: That are part of the program.
• 32:26
  Cathi Spooner: Um, Getting Grounded in Play Therapy Foundations course.
• 32:30
  Cathi Spooner: It's a self paced online course.
• 32:32
  Cathi Spooner: You take it at your, when it's convenient for you, for your schedule.
• 32:37
  Cathi Spooner: And then the newest course that's in there, cause I have a whole series.
• 32:42
  Cathi Spooner: And of course it's the first one is Getting Grounded in Play Therapy Foundations.
• 32:47
  Cathi Spooner: The second course is getting grounded in play therapy case conceptualization.
• 32:52
  Cathi Spooner: So how do you, what questions do you ask at that assessment in the beginning?
• 32:57
  Cathi Spooner: Why do you need to ask those questions?
• 32:59
  Cathi Spooner: Kind of goes through all the questions you need to ask and why you need to ask.
• 33:04
  Cathi Spooner: There's a checklist in there.
• 33:06
  Cathi Spooner: And then you use that information for your case conceptualization.
• 33:11
  Cathi Spooner: And in the course, I walk you through step by step by step.
• 33:15
  Cathi Spooner: how to take that information and use it to get a sense of what is going on, what specifically is going on, like looking at the roots of the behavior, not just the behavior.
• 33:29
  Cathi Spooner: And why is that behavior happening?
• 33:32
  Cathi Spooner: Why is that problem happening?
• 33:34
  Cathi Spooner: And then using that information to better understand, okay, so now what do I need to do?
• 33:40
  Cathi Spooner: That's the case formulas, formalization, uh, formulation that.
• 33:45
  Cathi Spooner: That's the next course, Getting Grounded in Play, Play Therapy Treatment Planning.
• 33:51
  Cathi Spooner: That's the course that's going to be coming out in July.
• 33:53
  Cathi Spooner: So all of those courses are in there.
• 33:55
  Cathi Spooner: We also have a group chat feature for support and some other, other things.
• 34:00
  Cathi Spooner: If you're interested in Play Therapy Academy, and you want to take your play therapy skills to the next level and really develop that confidence.
• 34:10
  Cathi Spooner: Stop feeling like an imposter.
• 34:13
  Cathi Spooner: We have all been there.
• 34:14
  Cathi Spooner: Um, really have a, uh, a good grounding in what to do and how to do it and how to use play therapy effectively to make a difference, to make a real difference in the lives of your clients and feel like you're actually making a difference in their lives.
• 34:33
  Cathi Spooner: Then.
• 34:34
  Cathi Spooner: Um, I'll, I'll put a link, you can pop over to my website, which is rhplaytherapytraining.
• 34:40
  Cathi Spooner: com.
• 34:41
  Cathi Spooner: Um, Play Therapy Academy, if you click on the supervision page, you can read more information about that.
• 34:52
  Cathi Spooner: If you already are in play therapy supervision with somebody else and you don't need that part of it.
• 34:58
  Cathi Spooner: The courses are still available.
• 35:00
  Cathi Spooner: You can buy those kind of a la carte if you're interested.
• 35:04
  Cathi Spooner: So right now I have a few other courses.
• 35:06
  Cathi Spooner: There are a couple other courses, one for using expressive arts with adolescents.
• 35:11
  Cathi Spooner: And then I have the series that I'm creating now, which is, I call it the Getting Grounded in Play Therapy Excellence Series.
• 35:19
  Cathi Spooner: The first one is Getting Grounded in Play Therapy Foundations.
• 35:23
  Cathi Spooner: The one that's also available now is Getting Grounded in Play Therapy Case Conceptualization, which includes the cultural competence piece of that, where you're figuring out the role of culture in your case conceptualization, which I think is really, really, really important.
• 35:42
  Cathi Spooner: Um, the next course that's going to be coming out is Getting Grounded in Play Therapy Treatment Planning.
• 35:49
  Cathi Spooner: So taking that case conceptualization.
• 35:52
  Cathi Spooner: Breaking it down into like what exactly is the problem, the goal and the objectives and what am I going to do, but that ties into your case conceptualization and your play therapy theory model.
• 36:06
  Cathi Spooner: So in the in that course, I'm going to take you step by step, each part of that process, looking at a couple of different theory models as well.
• 36:15
  Cathi Spooner: So if you're interested in any of those, pop on over to my website, um, Renewing Hearts Play Therapy Training.
• 36:24
  Cathi Spooner: The website is rhplaytherapytraining.
• 36:29
  Cathi Spooner: com.
• 36:31
  Cathi Spooner: And I will see you next week.
• 36:32
  Cathi Spooner: Bye.
• 36:34
  Cathi Spooner: Thank you for joining me on this episode of Next Level Play Therapy.
• 36:38
  Cathi Spooner: I hope you found the discussion valuable and gained new insights and ideas to support your work helping children, adolescents, and families heal.
• 36:48
  Cathi Spooner: If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe to the podcast and leave a review.
• 36:53
  Cathi Spooner: Your feedback helps to improve and reach more people who can benefit from this information.
• 36:59
  Cathi Spooner: Remember, play therapy is a powerful tool for healing and growth.
• 37:04
  Cathi Spooner: Whether you're a new play therapist or experienced, I encourage you to continue your learning journey to unlock the potential of play in your own work and relationships.
• 37:15
  Cathi Spooner: If you have any questions or topic suggestions for future episodes, I'd love to hear from you.
• 37:22
  Cathi Spooner: Connect with me on social media and visit my website at Renewing Hearts Play Therapy Training to stay updated on upcoming episodes, trainings, and resources.
• 37:34
  Cathi Spooner: Thank you once again for listening to Next Level Play Therapy.
• 37:38
  Cathi Spooner: Until next time, keep playing, learning, and growing.