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Play Therapy Not Working? 4 Ways to Get Unstuck · Next Level Play Therapy: A Podcast for Play Therapy Excellence

• 0:02
  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
  We'll explore all things play therapy to elevate your work with children and adolescents using the therapeutic powers of play.
• 0:23
  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.
• 0:33
  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
  Hey there.
• 0:48
  Welcome to this week's episode of Next Level Play Therapy.
• 0:53
  And this is a question that I get asked a lot, and if you've ever considered this question, then this episode is for you Is play therapy working for your client?
• 1:09
  So you're thinking, "Hmm, I don't know if this is working." And then you're kinda stuck in that, "I don't know if this is working," loop.
• 1:17
  You're kind of questioning your decision-making.
• 1:20
  You're not sure if you're doing the right thing.
• 1:22
  So then you pull out all your play therapy activity books.
• 1:27
  You go searching on the internet, on Amazon, Pinterest, Etsy.
• 1:34
  Or maybe you even pull out some of your previous play therapy training slides to see if you can figure out what to do to get unstuck or to make sure you're doing right by your client.
• 1:47
  Maybe you're in supervision, but your supervisor doesn't practice play therapy, so you're kind of feeling stuck about what to do and you're not sure what you're supposed to do.
• 2:03
  So this livestream, this podcast episode is for you.
• 2:07
  In this episode, I'm gonna talk about four things that you can think about or four ways to figure out what's going on and some strategies for making sure that your client is getting what they need out of the play therapy process.
• 2:29
  So we're gonna talk about how to go back to your case conceptualization and ground yourself in a play therapy model.
• 2:39
  We're gonna talk about why safety and therapeutic rapport come before your client getting insight, um, and how to check your expectations about what needs to be happening and when it needs to be happening.
• 2:55
  That comes up a lot in Play Therapy Academy.
• 2:58
  Like I hear, um, and it comes up in Elevation Circle too.
• 3:02
  These are my two memberships.
• 3:05
  Um, Play Therapy Academy is more skill-focused.
• 3:09
  It's a deeper, I ca- I call it like my, the deep dive to really ground yourself in solid play therapy skills where you're developing all your core competencies.
• 3:23
  And so one of the thing that comes up all the time, I hear this, is, "Well, we've had 15 sessions so I feel, I feel like it should be better by now." And for some reason, and I, and I'm, I'm sure I, if I really thought about it I could figure, I, you know what I mean?
• 3:44
  I probably know where this is coming from.
• 3:47
  There's this- I don't know, uh, like it's been around for like 35 years.
• 3:52
  I've been in this field almost 35 years, and I s- I, surprises me when it still comes up.
• 3:58
  But then I think about it, it kinda makes sense, and that is there's an expectation somewhere somebody read play therapy should only take 20 sessions.
• 4:10
  Maybe.
• 4:11
  Maybe if you have some clients that are really on track and they have a lot of, um, support around them If there's more complexity to what's going on for the child, including co- complexity in their family system or even trauma, the likelihood it's gonna take longer than 20 sessions is very high.
• 4:36
  So, so what are the expectations?
• 4:40
  And so we're gonna talk about that.
• 4:42
  And how do you get helpful feedback that's gonna provide good information for your ongoing assessment?
• 4:53
  How do you get good information that's gonna be helpful from parents, caregivers, your client?
• 5:01
  And then the other thing that we're gonna talk about, which I think gets lost a lot, I think we don't talk about this enough.
• 5:10
  Um, I, I think we may use it here and there, but I don't think we really recognize the full value of consultation and being part of a play therapy community.
• 5:28
  I'm actually getting ready today, when I'm done with this live stream episode, I'm gonna be flying to Minneapolis for the APT conference, the Association for Play Therapy conference.
• 5:39
  I'm co-facilitating a workshop on Saturday about high-conflict divorce with one of my favorite professionals, Dr. Anne Ordway, with the Association for Family, uh, and Conciliation Courts.
• 5:55
  We're doing a workshop together.
• 5:58
  The APT conference if you've never been, it is an experience, and talk about being part of a play therapy community, where you, where you feel like you're part of your peeps who get you.
• 6:11
  Also getting and sharing ideas I think is really amazing.
• 6:16
  Um, so I think the Association for Play Therapy is one place you can feel part of a community.
• 6:23
  The thing is, if you want to get, get some deep dive into the work that you're doing, I think you need to have a smaller group of trusted professionals that you're consulting with.
• 6:38
  And so we're gonna talk a little bit about how that can be helpful and why that's important.
• 6:45
  So I'm also gonna talk about at the end my upcoming free webinar, How to Provide Play Therapy Without Second-Guessing Yourself, Even With Complex Cases.
• 6:56
  So if you're interested in that th- um, free webinar, then make sure that you listen until the end.
• 7:03
  I'll talk a little bit more about that.
• 7:06
  So, um, if you are listening live, I would love to know who's here.
• 7:12
  Post your name in the comments, where you're from, what population do you work with.
• 7:20
  If you're watching the live stream replay, please feel free to post in the comments.
• 7:26
  We'll continue the conversation.
• 7:28
  That's the nice thing about the replay.
• 7:30
  We can continue the conversation afterwards.
• 7:34
  And for those of you listening on the podcast, feel free to email me or pop over and follow me on Instagram,@renewingheartstraining.
• 7:44
  Send me a message, uh, also on Facebook, but I, I probably more on Instagram than I am on Facebook.
• 7:55
  Um, and so Also, if you find this episode helpful and you're watching on YouTube, feel free to hit that subscribe button, and you wanna definitely click on the notification bell so you get notified every time I go live.
• 8:14
  I go live every Wednesday at 7:00 AM Pacific Time,
• 8:17
  10: 00 AM Eastern Time.
• 8:20
  10: So feel free to share this episode with your colleagues who, who would, um, benefit, and let's get started.
• 8:29
  10: So the first thing to think about, um, well, first of all, we're talking about, um, play ther- is your play therapy not working?
• 8:42
  10: Four ways to get unstuck.
• 8:43
  And here's the thing: it doesn't matter how long you've been in the mental health field.
• 8:50
  And here's the thing: I've been in this field almost 35 years, I still get stuck.
• 8:54
  And here's the thing: I s- in fact, I was getting consultation yesterday to help me with a complex client, um, that I needed some help with.
• 9:05
  And here's the thing: Um, we have Rochelle all the way from South Africa.
• 9:11
  And here's the thing: I was actually in South Africa back in 2008.
• 9:15
  And here's the thing: It was an amazing trip.
• 9:18
  And here's the thing: Um, so welcome.
• 9:20
  And here's the thing: All the way from South Africa, starting, um, starting practice in 2027.
• 9:26
  And here's the thing: Very nervous and very excited.
• 9:27
  And here's the thing: That's awesome.
• 9:28
  And here's the thing: Well, um, so it sounds like you're just beginning your professional journey or you're kind of in that process, and that's very exciting and very anxious at the same time.
• 9:41
  And here's the thing: I do a lot of consultation and supervision with people who are kind of entering into the field, kind of supporting the next generation, so that's awesome.
• 9:53
  And here's the thing: Welcome.
• 9:54
  And here's the thing: Feel free to post your questions in the comments.
• 9:58
  And here's the thing: All right, so the first thing we are going to do, and this is probably gonna sound familiar to some of you, especially if you're in grad school or newly out of graduate school, is really revisiting your case conceptualization.
• 10:14
  And here's the thing: So case conceptualization is a really fancy word that, um, basically means that you are using a theoretical model, because that is gonna influence how you make sense of what is going on with your client and what are the roots of that problem.
• 10:34
  And here's the thing: You're gonna be looking at the patterns, and you're gonna use all of that information as… I kind of, the other… I kind of call it, like, my working hypothesis.
• 10:43
  And here's the thing: That's what I call my case conceptualization.
• 10:46
  And here's the thing: It's influenced by your theoretical model.
• 10:50
  And here's the thing: So you're gonna go back to your case conceptualization.
• 10:55
  And here's the thing: If you're interested in case conceptualization, I have a lot of other videos about that where I talk more about it.
• 11:02
  And here's the thing: So if you're listening on a podcast, go back and listen to some of my previous episodes.
• 11:08
  And here's the thing: If you're watching on YouTube, then go back in… You're gonna look in the live section on my YouTube channel, and you'll see all of the live replays.
• 11:19
  And here's the thing: If you're watching on Facebook or, or you're watching on LinkedIn, it's probably easiest to go over to YouTube and look there.
• 11:32
  And here's the thing: If you're in my Facebook group, you can scroll through, but it's probably easiest to find everything on the live tab in, on my YouTube channel.
• 11:42
  And here's the thing: So case conceptualization, when I get stuck, that's the first thing I do, is I go back to my initial case conceptualization, and then I ask myself these questions.
• 11:56
  And here's the thing: So these are the questions you want to ask yourself.
• 12:00
  And here's the thing: You might wanna write these down.
• 12:03
  And here's the thing: Um, oh, we have another person from LinkedIn.
• 12:08
  And here's the thing: Welcome.
• 12:09
  And here's the thing: I think it's pronounced Renee.
• 12:12
  And here's the thing: I hope I got that right.
• 12:13
  And here's the thing: From England.
• 12:14
  And here's the thing: Newly qualified play therapist.
• 12:16
  And here's the thing: Welcome.
• 12:17
  And here's the thing: That's so exciting.
• 12:19
  And here's the thing: Yeah.
• 12:19
  And here's the thing: You know what's the coolest thing about doing these livestreams and doing things online?
• 12:25
  And here's the thing: Um, I, I connect with a lot of people on LinkedIn.
• 12:29
  And here's the thing: It… You realize that we can connect globally.
• 12:33
  And here's the thing: Like, the play therapy community is kind of small, and then you realize that we can connect globally, like from South Africa and England and other parts around the world.
• 12:46
  And here's the thing: And so sharing ideas, sharing strategies, connecting so that we're finding our people, which is awesome.
• 12:55
  And here's the thing: I love that.
• 12:55
  And here's the thing: So thanks for joining us, and thanks for those of you who are listening Um, so here are the questions.
• 13:03
  And here's the thing: If you are, um, feeling stuck, you're gonna go back to your initial case conceptualization, which is your working hypothesis.
• 13:14
  And here's the thing: You're gonna ask these questions of yourself.
• 13:17
  And here's the thing: One, what have I learned about this child and the family since that first session?
• 13:24
  And here's the thing: I do that one a lot.
• 13:26
  And here's the thing: This is kind of your case conceptualization is an ongoing process.
• 13:30
  And here's the thing: You're gonna be updating your case conceptualization, or also known as working hypothesis, throughout the play therapy process.
• 13:41
  And here's the thing: So one of the things that you do when you get stuck is go back to your initial case conceptualization and ask yourself, what have I learned about this child and this family since that first session?
• 13:56
  And here's the thing: What's changed?
• 13:58
  And here's the thing: What hasn't changed?
• 14:00
  And here's the thing: And what does my play therapy model say the goal is for this phase of treatment?
• 14:09
  And here's the thing: Because you're going to be thinking about what, uh, thinking about your play therapy model, what phase of treatment are you in?
• 14:19
  And here's the thing: So if you're using Adlerian play therapy, what stage of a- Adlerian play therapy are you in?
• 14:25
  And here's the thing: If you're using child-centered play therapy, what stage are you in?
• 14:29
  And here's the thing: If you're using, um, Gestalt play therapy, where are you in the process of that Gestalt play therapy, um, process?
• 14:44
  And here's the thing: Not to use that, overuse that word a little bit.
• 14:48
  And here's the thing: Um, but even if you're using an integrative approach, like maybe you're using EMDR and maybe you're doing some parts work with IFS and integrating that with Gestalt play therapy, your, those models are going to influence how are you making sense of the problem, and then what do you do and when do you do it, and how do you do it?
• 15:15
  And here's the thing: And so if you're feeling stuck, you wanna go back and think about what stage are you in and what are you supposed to be doing in that stage of play therapy The next thing you want to do is check your expectations.
• 15:33
  And here's the thing: This is, um, something we talk a lot about in Play Therapy Academy.
• 15:38
  And here's the thing: We also talk about this in Play Therapy Elevation Circle.
• 15:43
  And here's the thing: Um, and Play Therapy Elevation Circle is a, um, my online membership.
• 15:49
  And here's the thing: That one I think is, uh, more focused on community and consulting and sharing ideas.
• 15:56
  And here's the thing: Play Therapy Academy is more focused on skill building.
• 16:01
  And here's the thing: Play Therapy Academy has all the access to Elevation Circle, but Play Therapy Academy, we are gonna be heavily focused on skill building, developing your case conceptualization using your Play Therapy model.
• 16:15
  And here's the thing: And one of the things that we talk about in there is kinda like what I mentioned earlier, which is expectations.
• 16:22
  And here's the thing: What, um, what are your expectations for where you're supposed to be, and what is it supposed to look like?
• 16:30
  And here's the thing: I find this happens a lot, is that we're thinking it's supposed to be one way, and when we get in there, we do our case conceptualization, we look at our Play Therapy model and look at what stage they're in, we look at what's going on, then what we'll find is, oh, my expectations were a little off here, and then doing some of that correction.
• 16:53
  And here's the thing: So sometimes feeling stuck isn't about the client, sometimes it's more about what we're expecting.
• 17:01
  And here's the thing: So what I would suggest is that you ask yourself these questions, and I would encourage you to be brutally honest with yourself.
• 17:11
  And here's the thing: Um, and I think this is one of the things that I like about Play Therapy Academy and, um, is that we develop that safety, and I would say Elevation Circle as well.
• 17:22
  And here's the thing: Elevation Circle's a little newer, 'cause I realized not everybody needed Play Therapy Academy, but they really still needed a community and some support to think alongside them.
• 17:34
  And here's the thing: But one of the things that I like about Play Therapy Academy, excuse me, is that it's a safe p- space to be brutally honest and to share your worries and some vulnerability and not feel like you're being judged so that you can, you can- figure, you can get some help figuring out what's going on and then what to do and how to do it and when to do it.
• 18:02
  And here's the thing: So I would suggest if you are feeling stuck and you've looked at your case conceptualization, then the other thing you need to do is check your expectations and be brutally honest with yourself and ask yourself these questions honestly, which is, have I established sta- safety and strong therapeutic relationship with the child and the caregivers?
• 18:29
  And here's the thing: Nothing is going to happen if you don't develop safety and security in that therapeutic space, and that includes building a strong therapeutic relationship with caregivers or parents.
• 18:47
  And here's the thing: The other thing is, what are your expectations around… Are you thinking the, the child has to gain some insight or some knowledge before they're actually feeling safe?
• 19:03
  And here's the thing: Like, if you're getting a lot of, "I don't know, I don't know," 'cause you're asking questions and they're like, "I don't know.
• 19:09
  And here's the thing: I don't know," my first thought when that happens is, am I pushing this client?
• 19:17
  And here's the thing: Is the pacing Of the session, is the pacing of the treatment process too fast?
• 19:25
  And here's the thing: Am I expecting insight and change prior to my client feeling safe and comfortable to do nothing i- or say nothing?
• 19:38
  And here's the thing: So are you looking… The question, are you looking for insight before the client actually even feels safe?
• 19:47
  And here's the thing: And are you expecting a straight line, or can you hold the uncertainty of the process?
• 19:56
  And here's the thing: That's another big one that comes up a lot, especially when you're new, 'cause you don't really h- you haven't seen it happen numerous times.
• 20:08
  And here's the thing: And, uh, anytime I'm learning something new, I have that as well, um, 'cause we don't really know how it works, and so we don't really have that confidence, which is why being part of a community can be very helpful as you get feedback and you hear, oh, other people are dealing with this, too.
• 20:26
  And here's the thing: And like that ongoing process where you develop a sense of, um, safety with the community where you can, you can ask these questions of yourself or receive feedback for this.
• 20:40
  And here's the thing: Because when you're learning something, it is, um, it a little, it is a little hard because you don't really know.
• 20:48
  And here's the thing: And at the same time, this is an important question to ask yourself, are you expecting it to be a straight line?
• 20:54
  And here's the thing: Like, by 20 sessions, I should be done.
• 20:58
  And here's the thing: Well, maybe, but those are usually the higher functioning clients.
• 21:03
  And here's the thing: The, the, the higher acuity, meaning they typically have h- um, generational histories of trauma, attachment, addiction, poverty, and that you're kind of overcoming generational patterns.
• 21:18
  And here's the thing: And so that can take longer.
• 21:21
  And here's the thing: It can take longer to build a rapport with parents.
• 21:24
  And here's the thing: And if there's ongoing, like, high-conflict divorce, for the child, it's really hard to get a sense of safety So that's a good question to ask yourself, am I expecting a straight line or can I hold the uncertainty of the process while I'm grounding myself in this play therapy model?
• 21:47
  And here's the thing: Because your model is your GPS.
• 21:50
  And here's the thing: Your play therapy model tells you what to do, when to do it, and how to do it, and who's gonna be in the session when you do it.
• 22:00
  And here's the thing: Understanding your play therapy model is, is what really helps you hold that uncertainty during the play therapy process.
• 22:11
  And here's the thing: And here's the thing, that doesn't really ever change.
• 22:14
  And here's the thing: I think what happens is that we get comfortable with uncertainty, and that we feel comfortable with our contingency decision-making through that uncertainty.
• 22:28
  And here's the thing: So the, um, that's, that's a big one, I think, to check expectations around that.
• 22:35
  And here's the thing: Another one is ask yourself, are you expecting the child to explain why they're struggling before their nervous system is even regulated?
• 22:47
  And here's the thing: I feel like play therapists are actually pretty good about this one.
• 22:51
  And here's the thing: I think this is one what we have to help parents understand, or caregivers, checking their expectations.
• 22:57
  And here's the thing: And we still need to check our expectations about that because it does come up sometimes.
• 23:04
  And here's the thing: Also, am I expecting them to open up about overwhelming vulnerable things before trust is really there?
• 23:11
  And here's the thing: That is a huge one, especially when you have parents, when you go to get your client, they, they say in the waiting room, you know, uh, had a lot of questions, I mean, a lot of conversations about this.
• 23:25
  And here's the thing: And usually this gets better as you build a rapport with parents and help them understand the process.
• 23:32
  And here's the thing: In the beginning, this happens a lot.
• 23:35
  And here's the thing: "Don't forget to tell Miss Cathi what happened when X, Y, and Z." And that at the end of the session, you walk out and a parent will say,"Well, did he or she talk to you about X, Y, and Z?" And in the playroom, you're noticing you're still working on safety and building rapport.
• 23:57
  And here's the thing: Um, and maybe they're opening up a little bit, but not necessarily to the extent that, um, maybe parents are hoping or maybe even you're hoping.
• 24:08
  And here's the thing: Expecting clients to open up about and be vulnerable when they don't even feel safe and not sure they can trust you or trust what's gonna happen with this information is not realistic.
• 24:22
  And here's the thing: It's hard for them to do that.
• 24:25
  And here's the thing: So that's, uh, those are some really good questions to ask yourself about your expectations.
• 24:32
  And here's the thing: Here's the thing, play therapy process is often slow, especially when you're working with complex family systems.
• 24:43
  And here's the thing: So here's the thing, slow isn't the same as stuck.
• 24:48
  And here's the thing: I'm gonna say that again.
• 24:50
  And here's the thing: Slow isn't the same as stuck, and slow isn't the same as somehow you're messing things up.
• 25:00
  And here's the thing: That's why it's important to make sure you revisit your case conceptualization and your play therapy model, and then ask yourself about your expectations.
• 25:11
  And here's the thing: That's gonna help you ground yourself in the process and kind of tolerate some of those, um, unknowns while you're, while you're navigating with your client through that healing process The third thing you can do is ask for feedback.
• 25:33
  And here's the thing: Um, you don't have to guess.
• 25:35
  And here's the thing: I'll do that.
• 25:36
  And here's the thing: I'll usually, depending on the age of the child, um, and depending on your play therapy model.
• 25:43
  And here's the thing: So if you're using child-centered play therapy, you're not gonna ask your client for feedback because that's leading.
• 25:50
  And here's the thing: What you can do is ask caregivers in the parent-only sessions.
• 25:55
  And here's the thing: So a lot of times what I'll do is in the parent-only sessions, and I meet with parents at least once a month, and I tell them we have to meet without their child in the beginning at least, because in my mind, this is what I'm… For me, the purpose of that is I need to build rapport and trust with parents.
• 26:19
  And here's the thing: I need, I also need to get their feedback.
• 26:22
  And here's the thing: They're wanting feedback as well.
• 26:25
  And here's the thing: I look at those parent-only sessions as building a partnership, and I kind of explain it to parents as we are building a partnership.
• 26:34
  And here's the thing: I need feedback from you about what's going on outside of the sessions.
• 26:39
  And here's the thing: I can… And then during our parent sessions, we can figure out some strategies that you can use to n- help your child with that, because they're only coming to play therapy once a week usually, and they're with you, parent, caregiver, the rest of the time.
• 26:57
  And here's the thing: So my role here is to support you parents as much as it is to support the child.
• 27:04
  And here's the thing: And so during those parent-only sessions, I'm, I'm gonna be building rapport, and then I'm also gonna be getting feedback from them.
• 27:13
  And here's the thing: And a lot of times the feedback that I get helps me figure out maybe different direction.
• 27:20
  And here's the thing: If I'm using more of an integrative approach, then I can sometimes follow, and sometimes I lead, meaning sometimes I'll use some directive activities If I'm doing child-centered play therapy to fidelity with the younger kids, then, then I'm usually, I usually use that information from the parent-only sessions to kind of help me figure out what's going on in the child's play.
• 27:46
  And here's the thing: But I typically do that after the play therapy session when I'm doing my progress notes.
• 27:52
  And here's the thing: In the play therapy session, I'm focused on being fully present and attune and using my reflection.
• 27:58
  And here's the thing: But sometimes I may use some of that reflection.
• 28:01
  And here's the thing: If I see it in the playroom and I see it in their play, I will stay in the metaphor, and I will track what's happening.
• 28:11
  And here's the thing: I'm not leading with the tracking.
• 28:14
  And here's the thing: I'm reflecting what I'm seeing in the playroom, and I can use some of that information from parents.
• 28:21
  And here's the thing: So if you're… You can also, um, you can get information about how they're doing at home or school gives you some idea.
• 28:30
  And here's the thing: That's how I get in, um, I get information like that all the time because it helps me figure out where, where the, what stage of play therapy they're in, but also how they're progressing or what's coming up during the course of treatment because sometimes things happen and they regress a little bit.
• 28:52
  And here's the thing: So it's helpful to get that information, whether anything's changed in the family.
• 28:59
  And here's the thing: And then I'm also working on how parents are building that secure attachment relationship and how are they structuring and how are they limit setting, how are they co-regulating at home, and then I can kind of match that up to s- what I'm seeing in the playroom.
• 29:18
  And here's the thing: Depending on your play therapy model, you can check in with your client about what's going on in their life.
• 29:25
  And here's the thing: Um, so if your model includes directive approaches, you can reflect on what you're seeing in the sessions.
• 29:33
  And here's the thing: You can use curiosity to explore what's going on with them if you see a potential connection between what you're seeing in the playroom and what's happening in their life.
• 29:46
  And here's the thing: You can… Or you can just use curiosity to explore what's happening in the playroom.
• 29:51
  And here's the thing: Sometimes you'd be really surprised what they tell you.
• 29:54
  And here's the thing: So, um, th- I think asking for feedback is an important part of that rapport building, but also that partnership with parents and also kinda checking in with clients, depending on your play therapy model.
• 30:14
  And here's the thing: That can give you some information as well.
• 30:18
  And here's the thing: And then the fourth thing is, and I talked a little bit about this already, and I, um, I think consultation is kind of undervalued.
• 30:29
  And here's the thing: I feel like that's a harsh thing to say.
• 30:32
  And here's the thing: Um, and I think it kind of is.
• 30:38
  And here's the thing: We talk about it all the time, and maybe we'll do a one and done here or there, which is good.
• 30:44
  And here's the thing: But m- I think, I think we sometimes undervalue the, um, benefit of ongoing consultation if you're part of a community or maybe you're part of… Like, I remember years ago when I was brand new into… This is a few decades ago.
• 31:05
  And here's the thing: When I was brand new into private practice, I was licensed.
• 31:08
  And here's the thing: There were… It was myself, and I think there was four other, um, therapists.
• 31:14
  And here's the thing: They were awesome, and we met once a month, and we, um, consulted, and we supported each other, and we gave each other pats on the back, helped each other through some hard, challenging client cases.
• 31:31
  And here's the thing: As amazing as it was, and I loved that group of ladies, we, we spent a lot of time together, um, over, you know, we did that once a month for, I think, a couple of years I was in that group.
• 31:44
  And here's the thing: The, the, the hard part was they were not play therapists, so I kinda had to take what they said and then figure out how to put the play therapy component into that.
• 31:56
  And here's the thing: It wasn't until later when I finally, where I was, there weren't a lot of play therapists at the time, and then finally I connected with another play therapist, and we, um, buddied up and got a, a office space together, and then we would help each other and do support that way.
• 32:14
  And here's the thing: That was so, so helpful.
• 32:16
  And here's the thing: So I think that ongoing consultation, that ongoing support is something that's really, really helpful, not just… The one and done is good, so I don't, I don't want to imply that it's not, but I think we don't really r- recognize… I don't know the right word, to be completely honest.
• 32:38
  And here's the thing: I'm, I, I think recognize is a good word.
• 32:43
  And here's the thing: Um, if you guys have a better word, post that in the comments, 'cause I'd be curious what you guys think about consultation and what your experiences have been with that.
• 32:53
  And here's the thing: I've had people who have had good experiences, people who have had mediocre experiences, and people who have had bad experiences.
• 33:03
  And here's the thing: Um, but here's the thing.
• 33:05
  And here's the thing: With consultation, you can't see what you can't see, and you don't know what you don't know And being, I see this all the time in Play Therapy Academy, all the time.
• 33:17
  And here's the thing: Every single time we meet.
• 33:20
  And here's the thing: Um, and also in now we're, we're seeing this in the elevation consultation meetings.
• 33:28
  And here's the thing: We meet once a month for that.
• 33:31
  And here's the thing: Um, because sometimes we're just too close to see it, and that's not really a flaw.
• 33:38
  And here's the thing: That's being humans.
• 33:40
  And here's the thing: None of us can see ourselves all the way, and we can't always see situations perfectly, and th- that why, that to me, that's why bringing a, a play therapy case to a trusted peer or a consultation group where you can get ideas and fresh eyes on it A- and ideally these are people who understand play therapy, so they know how play therapy is working.
• 34:10
  And here's the thing: Um, they have some ideas of what worked for them that they can share with you.
• 34:16
  And here's the thing: So if it's, if they're not really play therapy specific, then you kinda have to piece it together yourself.
• 34:25
  And here's the thing: And I've had both, and when it was play therapy specific, it was so much more helpful from my experience.
• 34:31
  And here's the thing: And that, to be honest, that's one of the big reasons I created Play Therapy Academy and then Elevation Circle, because it is built on this idea of community and consultation so that you have a place to bring those hard cases, and together we kind of pinpoint what's going on with that client, and then, um, strategies, how can you use your play therapy model to navigate that, how do you work with parents.
• 35:04
  And here's the thing: And then you leave with not just one idea, you leave with a bunch of ideas, and you have plan A, B, C, D and E. So if A doesn't work, you switch over to B, right?
• 35:15
  And here's the thing: Or maybe you just go right to D. But you have, you walk back into your playroom feeling a lot more confident and supported because you are not doing it by yourself.
• 35:29
  And here's the thing: And I, and I had this happen yesterday when I, I have a very challenging case going on, and I got some feedback from a, a trusted colleague, and that, well, you know, part of the feedback was, yeah, when I started using this particular modality, I had that happen too, and it was really hard.
• 35:50
  And here's the thing: And just hearing that was helpful.
• 35:53
  And here's the thing: And then I got some ideas, and kind of, kind of reinforced what I was thinking also.
• 35:59
  And here's the thing: But, uh, also just to know I wasn't the only one, that was helpful as well.
• 36:03
  And here's the thing: And then getting the ideas of what to do.
• 36:08
  And here's the thing: So right now when you're stuck on a case, what do you do?
• 36:14
  And here's the thing: How do you get unstuck?
• 36:16
  And here's the thing: So post that in the chat if you're, if you're watching on the live stream or you're watching the replay.
• 36:25
  And here's the thing: What play therapy model are you using?
• 36:28
  And here's the thing: And then when you get stuck, what do you do?
• 36:32
  And here's the thing: Um, who, do you have people that you go to for support?
• 36:40
  And here's the thing: So that is it for today.
• 36:43
  And here's the thing: I'm just gonna do a quick recap.
• 36:46
  And here's the thing: Today what we're talking about is play therapy's not working, question mark, four ways to get unstuck.
• 36:54
  And here's the thing: And so the first thing is you wanna go back and revisit your case conceptualization.
• 36:59
  And here's the thing: Your case conceptualization is gonna be influenced by your play therapy model to help you make sense of, um, what is at the root of the problem and what are the patterns that are sustaining the problem, and then your pla- that's your case conceptualization.
• 37:17
  And here's the thing: That's ongoing throughout the change process, and then you're gonna use your play therapy model to help you figure out what to do.
• 37:25
  And here's the thing: The next thing is check your expectations.
• 37:28
  And here's the thing: Ask yourself, have I established safety and security?
• 37:34
  And here's the thing: with this child and caregivers?
• 37:37
  And here's the thing: Am I looking for insight before the child even makes feel safe?
• 37:43
  And here's the thing: Am I expecting a straight line, or am I able to hold the uncertainty of the process?
• 37:52
  And here's the thing: Or am I expecting them to open up in the session about vulnerable and hard things before they even feel like they can trust me, and they can feel safe with what's gonna happen with that information?
• 38:07
  And here's the thing: Am I expecting them to be able to explain why they're struggling before they can even feel regulated in their little nervous systems?
• 38:19
  And here's the thing: The next thing is you can get feedback from parents, and depending on your play therapy mile, uh, model, maybe from your client.
• 38:28
  And here's the thing: If you're using child-centered play therapy, you are not going to ask your client for feedback.
• 38:33
  And here's the thing: That would be directing.
• 38:35
  And here's the thing: You can ask parents in those parent-only sessions, and you want to make sure to have those.
• 38:43
  And here's the thing: Um, so there's a question from one of the YouTube, uh, f- people watching the live stream.
• 38:51
  And here's the thing: Is there any books you would recommend reading, supporting understanding behaviors and patterns in the playroom?
• 38:59
  And here's the thing: That's a great question.
• 39:01
  And here's the thing: To be honest, there's probably a ton of books, because depending on your theoretical model, they might explain it differently.
• 39:11
  And here's the thing: Um, I typically use a neuroscience and attachment lens, and that's what I use for my case conceptualization.
• 39:20
  And here's the thing: If you're looking for a really good book about case conceptualization, there's a book by Sperry and Sperry.
• 39:29
  And here's the thing: I forgot what it's called.
• 39:30
  And here's the thing: It's called a… It's b- it's back on my shelf behind me.
• 39:33
  And here's the thing: Um, it's, uh, it's a book about case conceptualization by Sperry and Sperry, S-P-E-R-R-Y.
• 39:43
  And here's the thing: It's not a play therapy book.
• 39:45
  And here's the thing: Um, it's more for adult therapy, but it's really good about breaking down the case conceptualization process.
• 39:55
  And here's the thing: There are some books based on specific play therapy models for case conceptualization, so you might wanna l- you might wanna look at those.
• 40:07
  And here's the thing: Um- Yeah, that's a great question.
• 40:10
  And here's the thing: It's… You know what you may wanna do is I've talked about that topic in past live stream episodes.
• 40:18
  And here's the thing: You're there on YouTube, so you can watch the previous live stream episodes or if you're, even if those of you who are listening and maybe you're listening to the podcast, g- there are other, um, episodes where I've gone into this a lot more.
• 40:34
  And here's the thing: So, um, you use child-centered.
• 40:37
  And here's the thing: Okay.
• 40:38
  And here's the thing: Yeah.
• 40:38
  And here's the thing: So then you're really kind of co-regulating in that, in that space.
• 40:44
  And here's the thing: You know what I would recommend?
• 40:46
  And here's the thing: I would recommend go back and listen to some of my previous episodes be- And I've talked about this even more recently with like within the last three months, but I talk about that one a lot.
• 40:57
  And here's the thing: So I would highly recommend go back and watch some of those live stream replays or those of you listening on the podcast, you could go back and listen at previous episodes about case conceptualization and this idea of, I use a neuroscience and attachment kind of foundational when I'm looking at behaviors and emotion regulation and things in the, in the playroom.
• 41:25
  And here's the thing: With child-centered play therapy, you're probably kind of looking at themes as well.
• 41:31
  And here's the thing: Um, yeah, so, uh, you are welcome All righty.
• 41:40
  And here's the thing: So, um, and then the fourth, fourth thing is k- kind of what we were just doing, getting consultation, right?
• 41:48
  And here's the thing: Although that wasn't really consultation.
• 41:51
  And here's the thing: Um, but get consultation, get into a group, get into a community, pull some play therapy people together.
• 41:59
  And here's the thing: Um, or I do have two memberships.
• 42:03
  And here's the thing: One of 'em I'm gonna, I'll talk about right now.
• 42:05
  And here's the thing: I have Play Therapy Academy, which is more of a skill building.
• 42:10
  And here's the thing: This one is gonna help you learn how to use a play therapy model with a, a variety of clients through every stage of play therapy.
• 42:18
  And here's the thing: You're gonna learn what to do, when to do, and how to do it, and we do that using a group, uh, format because then you get my almost 35 years experience.
• 42:30
  And here's the thing: We do case consultation, I mean, um, case presentation.
• 42:33
  And here's the thing: So you're, you're gonna get a dedicated time.
• 42:36
  And here's the thing: When you're presenting we're gonna focus solely on you, but you're not … You're, you're getting my 35 year, almost 35, plus all of the people in the group.
• 42:48
  And here's the thing: And if you ask anybody in Play Therapy Academy they will all tell you that is where the magic is.
• 42:54
  And here's the thing: It's not just my feedback but it's all the feedback from the people in the group.
• 42:59
  And here's the thing: And we keep these groups small, um, in order to, one, to meet the requirements for the Association for Play Therapy For the, um, group supervision if you're pursuing your registered play therapy credential.
• 43:17
  And here's the thing: Um, but I would say the other reason is because we keep it small, um, to build that trust and have a dedicated time to take that deeper dive.
• 43:27
  And here's the thing: So if you're interested in Play Therapy Academy, I have a few open- openings right now.
• 43:34
  And here's the thing: What you'll wanna do is, um, schedule a, like a 30-minute video call, a discovery call with me to make sure it's a good fit for you, and I can explain a little bit more.
• 43:46
  And here's the thing: Because sometimes Elevation Circle is a better fit for you than Play Therapy Academy, and that's what we figure out in that discovery call.
• 43:56
  And here's the thing: So if you are interested in Play Therapy Academy, I have a few openings right now.
• 44:01
  And here's the thing: When they fill up, they're full, and I don't have openings until somebody, um, ends their time and people, people stay two or three years in there.
• 44:12
  And here's the thing: They sometimes shorter, sometimes longer, depending on what's going on, but people tend to stay, so I don't always have openings a lot.
• 44:21
  And here's the thing: If you're interested in Play Therapy Academy, then pop over to my website at rhplaytherapytraining.com.
• 44:31
  And here's the thing: That's rhplaytherapytraining.com, Renewing Hearts Play Therapy Training.
• 44:36
  And here's the thing: Go onto the, um, supervision page, and you'll see Play Therapy Academy and the link.
• 44:43
  And here's the thing: We're also gonna put the link in the comments so you can get it in there as well.
• 44:49
  And here's the thing: Um, if you're interested, I do have a free webinar coming up, and that's gonna be on October 25th, Sunday, October
• 45:00
  25th at 4: 00 PM Pacific Time, 7:00 PM Eastern Time.
• 45:06
  25th at 4: It's like 90 minutes.
• 45:07
  25th at 4: The webinar is called How to Provide Play Therapy Without Second-Guessing Yourself, Even With Complex Cases, and we're gonna go a little deeper into what we were talking about here.
• 45:20
  25th at 4: So if you're interested in the free webinar, go ahead and register.
• 45:25
  25th at 4: It is filling up fast, I'm not gonna lie.
• 45:28
  25th at 4: I was looking at registrations already, and we just opened it up yesterday.
• 45:32
  25th at 4: Uh, we are getting a ton of registrations.
• 45:34
  25th at 4: So register today.
• 45:36
  25th at 4: We're putting the link in the comments as well, or pop over to my website at rhplaytherapytraining.com.
• 45:45
  25th at 4: You'll see the registration.
• 45:47
  25th at 4: And I will see you next week after I have returned from the Association for Play Therapy Conference.
• 45:55
  25th at 4: Super excited about that, and I will see you next week.
• 45:59
  25th at 4: Bye for now.
• 46:05
  25th at 4: Thank you for joining me on this episode of Next Level Play Therapy.
• 46:10
  25th at 4: I hope you found the discussion valuable and gained new insights and ideas to support your work helping children, adolescents, and families heal.
• 46:19
  25th at 4: If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe to the podcast and leave a review.
• 46:24
  25th at 4: Your feedback helps to improve and reach more people who can benefit from this information.
• 46:30
  25th at 4: Remember, play therapy is a powerful tool for healing and growth.
• 46:35
  25th at 4: 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.
• 46:46
  25th at 4: If you have any questions or topic suggestions for future episodes, I'd love to hear from you.
• 46:53
  25th at 4: 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.
• 47:06
  25th at 4: Thank you once again for listening to Next Level Play Therapy.
• 47:09
  25th at 4: Until next time, keep playing, learning, and growing.