Latest / Next Level Play Therapy: A Podcast for Play Therapy Excellence / What’s the Best Approach for Play Therapy?

Transcript

What’s the Best Approach for Play Therapy? · 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, welcome to this week's episode of Next Level Play Therapy.
• 0:52
  Cathi Spooner: Today, we're going to discuss a topic that comes up all the time, and this is something in my Play Therapy Academy program, which is my online consultation program, um, that comes up all the time.
• 1:07
  Cathi Spooner: And I also think if you're kind of new to play therapy or you're beginning to figure out which direction you want to go using play therapy and how you want to use play therapy.
• 1:23
  Cathi Spooner: Today's topic is one of those things I think all of us in the play therapy fields have had to figure out.
• 1:33
  Cathi Spooner: And sometimes that takes a while and it can be a little, I think nowadays because there's so much online training, which is awesome.
• 1:41
  Cathi Spooner: We didn't have that when I was just getting started.
• 1:46
  Cathi Spooner: And I think what happens is a lot of opportunities provide a lot of choices and then a lot of choices create some dilemmas about what should I do.
• 2:00
  Cathi Spooner: And so that's why I thought today's topic would be useful, which is, is there a best play therapy approach?
• 2:11
  Cathi Spooner: What's the best approach to play therapy?
• 2:14
  Cathi Spooner: This is kind of a question that comes up all the time.
• 2:18
  Cathi Spooner: When play therapists are trying to figure out how to best help their clients, how can I help my clients heal?
• 2:26
  Cathi Spooner: What can I do that's going to make a difference in their lives?
• 2:31
  Cathi Spooner: And Is there, is there a best approach I should be using?
• 2:36
  Cathi Spooner: And I, I think it's an important topic to consider so you can avoid what I call throwing spaghetti against the wall, meaning you're using all kinds of different interventions and trying different kinds of things because you're a little concerned that maybe nothing's working.
• 2:56
  Cathi Spooner: So you're kind of throwing spaghetti against the wall and hoping something sticks with your interventions.
• 3:02
  Cathi Spooner: But then what ends up happening is you you feel like nothing's working and your imposter syndrome begins to kick in so and then you feel like you're not making a difference.
• 3:18
  Cathi Spooner: So today's topic is is there a best approach to play therapy?
• 3:25
  Cathi Spooner: And I would love to see who is watching live today.
• 3:29
  Cathi Spooner: So I, I stream live every week into LinkedIn and, uh, YouTube, and also on my Instagram channel, I put the replays in my Facebook group.
• 3:46
  Cathi Spooner: I used to be able to live stream into my Facebook group, but then, um, Meta changed their requirements and I didn't want to make the switch.
• 3:57
  Cathi Spooner: So that is what it is.
• 3:59
  Cathi Spooner: But, um, so I'd love to see who's here.
• 4:03
  Cathi Spooner: And if you're watching the replay, I would love to see who's here, even on the replay.
• 4:09
  Cathi Spooner: So post your name in the comments, what population you work with.
• 4:15
  Cathi Spooner: Um, what play therapy model are you using?
• 4:19
  Cathi Spooner: What questions do you have about using a play therapy model?
• 4:25
  Cathi Spooner: Go ahead and post those in the comments.
• 4:28
  Cathi Spooner: If you are listening on the podcast, please feel free to leave comments.
• 4:34
  Cathi Spooner: Send me an email if you have questions.
• 4:37
  Cathi Spooner: Um, and let's get started.
• 4:40
  Cathi Spooner: So, Is one, is one type of play therapy best?
• 4:46
  Cathi Spooner: That's the first question, right?
• 4:48
  Cathi Spooner: Is there one type of play therapy model that is going to be the magic, magic ingredient to make that difference that you want to make in the lives of your clients?
• 5:02
  Cathi Spooner: And why is that important?
• 5:04
  Cathi Spooner: Because So, here in the United States, our kind of play therapy, um, association that we follow that also establishes best practices and also developed competencies for play therapy.
• 5:25
  Cathi Spooner: The Association for Play Therapy has established what they call core competencies using play therapy.
• 5:34
  Cathi Spooner: The reason for this, like any field, you want to establish some competencies to make sure the services that you're providing are effective and based on sound theoretical principles and applied with skill.
• 5:56
  Cathi Spooner: So this is really about developing, um, core standards across the profession.
• 6:05
  Cathi Spooner: And one of the core competencies that, um, have been established is that play therapists will have knowledge, of what they call seminal and historical theoretical models, play therapy models.
• 6:19
  Cathi Spooner: Why is that important?
• 6:20
  Cathi Spooner: Because it grounds the profession in a theoretical orientation to the work that we do, meaning we want to learn a theory because theory drives application.
• 6:35
  Cathi Spooner: And there are, um, some theories that have become the core of the play therapy profession, at least here in the United States.
• 6:45
  Cathi Spooner: I suspect outside of the United States as well.
• 6:49
  Cathi Spooner: And so they call, uh, the Association for, for Play Therapy calls them, Seminal and historical models.
• 6:58
  Cathi Spooner: Now, why is that important?
• 7:00
  Cathi Spooner: Because theory drives application and guides you through all of the different stages of the change process and helps you understand how you're supposed to be in play therapy sessions.
• 7:16
  Cathi Spooner: What you say, what you don't say, how do you say it?
• 7:19
  Cathi Spooner: How do you identify and make sense of the themes that you're seeing in the play therapy process?
• 7:27
  Cathi Spooner: How do you know when your client is progressing based on the different stages?
• 7:33
  Cathi Spooner: Um, so those are all really important.
• 7:36
  Cathi Spooner: So hey there, Britt from Ohana Means Family.
• 7:40
  Cathi Spooner: I love your posts.
• 7:42
  Cathi Spooner: So, uh, Britt is on Instagram.
• 7:45
  Cathi Spooner: And so I follow you, right?
• 7:48
  Cathi Spooner: I love your posts.
• 7:48
  Cathi Spooner: So I just had to say that.
• 7:50
  Cathi Spooner: Um, still having difficulty sticking to one model.
• 7:53
  Cathi Spooner: You know what?
• 7:54
  Cathi Spooner: I, I think that is a problem most play therapists struggle with, at least in the beginning.
• 8:02
  Cathi Spooner: And I think part what, it's been my experience working with a lot of people over the last 15 years doing consulting is, you're you start not knowing and not feeling confident in the skills that you're using.
• 8:18
  Cathi Spooner: And, you know, we all do that.
• 8:19
  Cathi Spooner: I did it too.
• 8:21
  Cathi Spooner: Um, and that's part of I think that's where consultation really makes a difference in making sure you get some good training to kind of help, you know, how to apply the skills and kind of feel confident through all of the stages.
• 8:37
  Cathi Spooner: Um, the other thing I find is maybe you haven't found one that has aligned.
• 8:43
  Cathi Spooner: Um, but I still, to this day, I mean, I, I could, if I don't make myself kind of focus, I can go down lots of different rabbit holes with different theories.
• 8:54
  Cathi Spooner: Cause there's so many good things about all of them.
• 8:57
  Cathi Spooner: Um, but there's a, uh, there's a, um, There's a thing called the Dodo verdict.
• 9:05
  Cathi Spooner: So the Dodo verdict says that all treatment approachment, all treatment approaches will work equally well with all clients to overcome whatever issue that they've experienced.
• 9:21
  Cathi Spooner: The thing is that has been widely disputed the experts that not all treatment models work 100 percent with all clients and all client presenting issues.
• 9:37
  Cathi Spooner: So learning, um, learning one theoretical model is good because I think that it grounds you.
• 9:49
  Cathi Spooner: Is one theory model the end all be all for all theory models?
• 9:55
  Cathi Spooner: I don't think so.
• 9:56
  Cathi Spooner: I think that's a lot of why we're seeing what I call the next generation of play therapy models that are a lot more integrative based off of those seminal and hysterical models.
• 10:11
  Cathi Spooner: Historical, not hysterical.
• 10:14
  Cathi Spooner: Seminal and historical models.
• 10:16
  Cathi Spooner: Because now we're getting a lot more research from about neuroscience and understanding that brain body connection.
• 10:27
  Cathi Spooner: So like Brit from Ohana means family says, I love synergistic, which is more of an integrative model that kind of has its roots in a theoretical model and then also integrated in what we're learning with research about neuroscience.
• 10:47
  Cathi Spooner: So I'm even a big, like my initial training way, way, way back in the day, um, was child centered play therapy.
• 10:57
  Cathi Spooner: When, when I am using child centered play therapy with young kids, because I, I think for that population, child centered play therapy works really well for the really little kids.
• 11:11
  Cathi Spooner: Um, but I also use that kind of neuroscience and attachment lens that to me makes that theory model so much richer.
• 11:24
  Cathi Spooner: So I, I would say I use more of an attachment and neuroscience lens even when I'm using child centered play therapy.
• 11:34
  Cathi Spooner: But I think most of us, um, this is my opinion.
• 11:41
  Cathi Spooner: You may or may not agree if you're a child centered play therapist.
• 11:44
  Cathi Spooner: I think there's a point in time when child centered play therapy doesn't work as well for the vast majority of clients.
• 11:53
  Cathi Spooner: And I think once they get up to be like that nine or 10, definitely 10.
• 11:58
  Cathi Spooner: Um, if you are using child centered play therapy, it has to look a little different than it does with the younger kids.
• 12:06
  Cathi Spooner: I think a lot and so more kind of integrated versions when you get to older kids, but the thing is, what model are you using?
• 12:18
  Cathi Spooner: Because that's how you are going to identify what kind of interventions do I want to use?
• 12:24
  Cathi Spooner: What are the different stages of change looking look for when I see the when I see the themes, how am I making sense of those?
• 12:33
  Cathi Spooner: What theory model am I using to understand and conceptualize what's going on with my client and where they are in the change process?
• 12:44
  Cathi Spooner: So Britt says, I wish could see more actual sessions.
• 12:48
  Cathi Spooner: I feel like that would be super helpful.
• 12:50
  Cathi Spooner: Yeah.
• 12:51
  Cathi Spooner: And she also says neuroscience and attachment is huge.
• 12:55
  Cathi Spooner: Yeah, we definitely align there for sure.
• 12:59
  Cathi Spooner: Um, and, um, so when you're, when you're thinking about what theory of theoretical model, why is that important?
• 13:11
  Cathi Spooner: It's important because it grounds the work that you do and helps you get through all of the different stages of the change process.
• 13:21
  Cathi Spooner: Even now, when we've moved to a lot, uh, having access to a lot of integrated models, they're still based in a theoretical lens, some kind of framework that helps you know where you are in the change process and what's going on with your client.
• 13:44
  Cathi Spooner: But your theory model is going to influence also, how are you integrating parents into the change process?
• 13:53
  Cathi Spooner: So for child centered play therapy, they're never going to be in the session with you.
• 14:00
  Cathi Spooner: And if you want to integrate them in, that's a different model.
• 14:04
  Cathi Spooner: So the way child centered play therapy involves parents is through those separate, parent coaching sessions, which are very, very important.
• 14:15
  Cathi Spooner: So just because you're using child centered play therapy doesn't mean you're not involving parents.
• 14:21
  Cathi Spooner: You are involving parents and meeting with parents to facilitate that change within the child's environment is critical for that lasting change that you want to happen.
• 14:35
  Cathi Spooner: And I've talked about this a lot on previous episodes where, um, how you, how are you integrating parents in the play therapy process?
• 14:46
  Cathi Spooner: That's really, really important because children can't be their therapeutic agents of change.
• 14:52
  Cathi Spooner: Parents need to be the therapeutic agents of change.
• 14:55
  Cathi Spooner: So as play therapists, how are we integrating them?
• 15:00
  Cathi Spooner: How are we supporting them?
• 15:02
  Cathi Spooner: Our theory model is going to make sense of how we understand the parent's role in the change process.
• 15:10
  Cathi Spooner: Adlerian play therapy and Gestalt play therapy will conceptualize the child's environment in the treatment process, which I love that.
• 15:21
  Cathi Spooner: And how you integrate parents will be influenced by your theoretical model.
• 15:27
  Cathi Spooner: So the way that an Adlerian play therapist works with families and understands and conceptualizes the problem will likely be slightly different because it's a different theory model than Gestalt play therapy.
• 15:43
  Cathi Spooner: So that's why it's really important to really understand the importance of learning a theory model and using it.
• 15:54
  Cathi Spooner: So then that comes to the next question, which is how do I choose?
• 16:00
  Cathi Spooner: A play therapy theoretical.
• 16:02
  Cathi Spooner: Oh, sorry.
• 16:03
  Cathi Spooner: I skipped one.
• 16:04
  Cathi Spooner: What?
• 16:05
  Cathi Spooner: What does theory have to do with the results?
• 16:08
  Cathi Spooner: That's the next question.
• 16:09
  Cathi Spooner: And I've kind of talked about that already.
• 16:13
  Cathi Spooner: But what I haven't talked about yet is that your play therapy model is how you help your clients access those therapeutic powers of play.
• 16:26
  Cathi Spooner: The therapeutic powers of play are what set play therapy apart from the other expressive arts, expressive arts modalities.
• 16:37
  Cathi Spooner: So how are you helping your clients access those therapeutic powers of play?
• 16:45
  Cathi Spooner: And it's also going to influence your way of being in the play therapy session.
• 16:52
  Cathi Spooner: So as a child centered play therapist, I'm going to show up slightly differently in the way in which I speak, the way in which I interact, how I respond to questions.
• 17:03
  Cathi Spooner: That'll be a little different than if I'm using a different theory model.
• 17:09
  Cathi Spooner: Sometime your theory model will influence whether the child is leading, or if you're leading.
• 17:18
  Cathi Spooner: In child centered play therapy, you never lead.
• 17:21
  Cathi Spooner: And the other play therapy models, sometimes you lead, sometimes the child leads.
• 17:28
  Cathi Spooner: And that really depends on a variety of factors.
• 17:31
  Cathi Spooner: So your play, your play therapy model also influences how you're going to choose interventions, what kind of interventions you're going to choose.
• 17:44
  Cathi Spooner: Um, so like, for example, even when you're using more of an integrative model, it's going to be based, your, your choice of interventions is going to be based on, my mouth isn't working so well today.
• 17:59
  Cathi Spooner: Your choice of interventions is going to be based on your theory model and how you understand what the problem is because you're going to choose interventions based on how you're understanding what the problem is.
• 18:18
  Cathi Spooner: And then that's going to be the focus of the change process.
• 18:22
  Cathi Spooner: So, how are you choosing your interventions will be based on your theory, theory model.
• 18:29
  Cathi Spooner: So like, even if you're using Prescriptive play therapy or more of an Integrative play therapy model.
• 18:36
  Cathi Spooner: The, there are theories and principles underlying how you're helping your clients access those therapeutic process, uh, powers of play and how you're identifying progress.
• 18:49
  Cathi Spooner: So like I would consider Synergistic play therapy and inner, And, uh, Integrative model, but it's a specific kind of interventive, uh, Integrative model.
• 19:00
  Cathi Spooner: We now have a lot of models in play therapy where people specialize in using neuroscience and Polyvagal, and that is the theoretical foundation of the work that you're using.
• 19:16
  Cathi Spooner: And I, I think that's awesome.
• 19:17
  Cathi Spooner: I love neuroscience and attachment theory.
• 19:21
  Cathi Spooner: I love that we are having some of these new, um, I call them next generation models.
• 19:29
  Cathi Spooner: The thing you have to keep in mind is those models are, are founded on certain principles and a theoretical lens.
• 19:38
  Cathi Spooner: And that's how you're understanding where where your clients are in the change process.
• 19:44
  Cathi Spooner: So I, I would say that my foundation from grad school back in the nineties, um, is family systems theory.
• 19:55
  Cathi Spooner: That was the theory I was trained in.
• 19:58
  Cathi Spooner: When I was in graduate school for social work, it was all family systems theory.
• 20:02
  Cathi Spooner: The work that we did was family systems.
• 20:05
  Cathi Spooner: My first job out of grad school, um, was working with children and adolescents and families experiencing addiction.
• 20:17
  Cathi Spooner: And so we used a lot of family systems back then.
• 20:21
  Cathi Spooner: And I would say that's kind of my default mode.
• 20:24
  Cathi Spooner: And then along the way I discovered, uh, Daniel Siegel and interpersonal neurobiology and attachment theory.
• 20:33
  Cathi Spooner: And I, I was hooked.
• 20:35
  Cathi Spooner: So I, I would say those are, are my really kind of grounded.
• 20:40
  Cathi Spooner: So when I look at what's going on in children's lives?
• 20:45
  Cathi Spooner: And I look systemically, then for me, that means how am I going to help children heal within the context of their most important relationships, meaning family, right?
• 20:59
  Cathi Spooner: And family is going to be different based on what's going on for the child.
• 21:05
  Cathi Spooner: So maybe it's their biological parents.
• 21:08
  Cathi Spooner: Maybe it's not their biological parents and maybe they're living with other family members who are acting in that parenting role.
• 21:19
  Cathi Spooner: So when I say parents, I kind of, it's kind of a global, it's more about who's acting in that parenting role for the child.
• 21:28
  Cathi Spooner: Um, Britt says family systems is big.
• 21:31
  Cathi Spooner: make so much sense.
• 21:33
  Cathi Spooner: Nothing happens in a vacuum.
• 21:34
  Cathi Spooner: Absolutely.
• 21:35
  Cathi Spooner: I say that all the time.
• 21:37
  Cathi Spooner: And so when I was thinking about how to integrate family and do family, there wasn't a lot.
• 21:45
  Cathi Spooner: And so I kind of developed a model called Attachment Focused Family Play Therapy.
• 21:52
  Cathi Spooner: And the model is based on neuroscience, attachment and family systems.
• 21:59
  Cathi Spooner: And based on those based on those theory models, you're going to see certain things in different stages of the change process.
• 22:08
  Cathi Spooner: And so when I was creating the, the model, because I don't like a prescribed model, I have a really hard time following manualized things.
• 22:22
  Cathi Spooner: Um, I needed something that would be a little more flexible that also integrated attachment theory and what we were learning about more interpersonal neurobiology and the whole neuroscience field.
• 22:38
  Cathi Spooner: And so, um, how I'm going to conceptualize what's going on for my client using attachment focused family play therapy, and what I'm going to be doing when I'm integrating that model into the overall treatment process, then I'm going to be looking for certain things.
• 23:00
  Cathi Spooner: The way in which I show up in the the play therapy sessions will depend on what stage of treatment we're in.
• 23:09
  Cathi Spooner: I'm going to be working heavily with parents.
• 23:11
  Cathi Spooner: What does that kind of look like?
• 23:12
  Cathi Spooner: I'm going to be teaching them some attachment based parenting skills so that they can use those in everyday life.
• 23:22
  Cathi Spooner: And we're practicing in the sessions.
• 23:25
  Cathi Spooner: How do I do that?
• 23:27
  Cathi Spooner: How do I teach them?
• 23:28
  Cathi Spooner: How do I help them use that?
• 23:30
  Cathi Spooner: What are we going to be doing in the sessions?
• 23:33
  Cathi Spooner: What are we going to be doing in different phases of the change process?
• 23:40
  Cathi Spooner: All of that is going to be dependent on the theory model that I'm using.
• 23:45
  Cathi Spooner: So that's why theory does have a lot to do with the results.
• 23:51
  Cathi Spooner: If you're using a theory model, it's going to help you not use the spaghetti against the wall, um, technique or get lost and throwing spaghetti against the wall and then get frustrated and confused and feel lost and overwhelmed and frustrated.
• 24:09
  Cathi Spooner: That's where your theory model helps guide you through that process.
• 24:13
  Cathi Spooner: So that has everything to do with um, what does theory have to do with the results in play therapy?
• 24:23
  Cathi Spooner: So then that brings us to the final question, which is how do I choose a play therapy model?
• 24:30
  Cathi Spooner: So before I get into that question, I have to make my disclaimer.
• 24:35
  Cathi Spooner: If you've been on some of my other live stream broadcasts or you've watched the replays or maybe you've been listening to my podcast Next Level Play, uh, Next Level Play Therapy Podcast, you will know what I'm about to say.
• 24:53
  Cathi Spooner: You've heard this before.
• 24:55
  Cathi Spooner: So my dogs are now in the room with me.
• 24:58
  Cathi Spooner: And I have two.
• 25:01
  Cathi Spooner: Lily is the little one.
• 25:03
  Cathi Spooner: She's our senior dog.
• 25:05
  Cathi Spooner: And then we have Luna.
• 25:06
  Cathi Spooner: She's our middle aged dog.
• 25:08
  Cathi Spooner: And Luna likes to come in and roll around on the carpet.
• 25:12
  Cathi Spooner: And she makes moaning noises and then she digs in the carpet.
• 25:17
  Cathi Spooner: You may see her too.
• 25:18
  Cathi Spooner: If you're watching in a video video, you can, you might be able to see her in the background if she walks around.
• 25:26
  Cathi Spooner: But you can hear her now.
• 25:27
  Cathi Spooner: If you can hear her, she's, she's rolling around making moaning noises.
• 25:32
  Cathi Spooner: Although, oh, she's leaving now.
• 25:35
  Cathi Spooner: You might hear her barking then.
• 25:37
  Cathi Spooner: Um, and Lily is under my feet, under my desk.
• 25:41
  Cathi Spooner: So if you hear weird, strange noises, I promise you I'm not doing something, uh, strange and untoward in the background.
• 25:51
  Cathi Spooner: It is my dogs.
• 25:52
  Cathi Spooner: They like to be in the room with me.
• 25:54
  Cathi Spooner: So, okay, final, final question for today, um, to answer is how do I choose a play therapy model?
• 26:04
  Cathi Spooner: This one comes up all the time.
• 26:06
  Cathi Spooner: Um, and it can be a little frustrating.
• 26:09
  Cathi Spooner: I think the best way to figure out what play therapy model works best for you is to figure out what theory model you kind of align with.
• 26:21
  Cathi Spooner: What theory model and what principles of that theory model do align with.
• 26:28
  Cathi Spooner: And which ones align with your therapeutic beliefs about how to do, uh, how to do play therapy, how to work with clients, how to work with parents, how to, which ones align with your values and beliefs about healing and the change process.
• 26:47
  Cathi Spooner: And which one, which theory model works best for the specific population that you're dealing with?
• 26:55
  Cathi Spooner: So if you work primarily with, um, young kids, like, um, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, you probably want to make sure you're choosing a theory model that works well with that population.
• 27:14
  Cathi Spooner: If you work well, uh, if you work predominantly with, um, like court involved families, foster care, have a lot of trauma and attachment, you probably want to use a model that aligns with that theory model, and there are some good ones out there for all of these.
• 27:36
  Cathi Spooner: So, so when you're figuring it out, those are the things that you want to think about when you're learning specific models.
• 27:47
  Cathi Spooner: What I would say is learn, this part takes patience and probably a little bit of self control.
• 27:59
  Cathi Spooner: That's what I had to say to myself when I was in this stage.
• 28:03
  Cathi Spooner: Um, I'm sure I'm not the only one.
• 28:06
  Cathi Spooner: Stick, learn at least one model well before you start moving on to other ones.
• 28:13
  Cathi Spooner: Like, learn a theory model.
• 28:16
  Cathi Spooner: Learn how it applies in the different stages of the change process before you start using different interventions and kind of throwing them in your sessions kind of haphazardly.
• 28:30
  Cathi Spooner: Learn a model, learn how to apply it all the way through the change process.
• 28:36
  Cathi Spooner: That's the hard part.
• 28:38
  Cathi Spooner: To me, that's where consultation comes in, um, comes in to be really important kind of having someone or a group of people that you're meeting with that really help you through all of those stages of the change process.
• 28:53
  Cathi Spooner: That's one of the reasons I created Play Therapy Academy to, to provide that support for play therapists and give them a lot of, a lot of support.
• 29:05
  Cathi Spooner: Um, because we all need help guiding us, you know, through that process of learning and applying the skills and persevering to see how it actually applies.
• 29:20
  Cathi Spooner: Somebody to boost up our confidence, give us some courage, tell us we're doing a good job when we think we're not because they've actually kind of had a chat with us and realized we actually are doing a good job.
• 29:33
  Cathi Spooner: Um, so that is it for today.
• 29:38
  Cathi Spooner: Um, let me do a quick recap of what we talked about today.
• 29:43
  Cathi Spooner: If you're interested in some of my trainings, then you probably want to hang in there to the end.
• 29:48
  Cathi Spooner: I will talk to you a little bit about my new training.
• 29:51
  Cathi Spooner: Uh, it's a live webinar that I have coming up called Attachment Focused Family Play Therapy, where I teach you the model that I talked about earlier, but I also have some other courses.
• 30:03
  Cathi Spooner: Um, oh, and Britt says, yes, I also have a book called Attachment Focused Family Play Therapy.
• 30:10
  Cathi Spooner: Um, and you can, you can get that wherever you, buy books.
• 30:15
  Cathi Spooner: You can get it on Amazon.
• 30:17
  Cathi Spooner: You could go over to Rutledge, which is the publisher and look for it on that website.
• 30:24
  Cathi Spooner: Um, so yes, that's another way you can learn that.
• 30:28
  Cathi Spooner: And I'm going to talk about the model.
• 30:29
  Cathi Spooner: So if you want, for those of you are interested in it and you want to do a live webinar, Um, or maybe you can't attend the live webinar.
• 30:39
  Cathi Spooner: There's gonna, the recording will be available later.
• 30:41
  Cathi Spooner: So I'll talk about that a little bit more at the end.
• 30:45
  Cathi Spooner: I also have courses on my website that you might be interested in that talk a lot about what we've talked about today.
• 30:52
  Cathi Spooner: So you might be interested in those.
• 30:54
  Cathi Spooner: So quick recap.
• 30:57
  Cathi Spooner: Is one play therapy model best?
• 31:00
  Cathi Spooner: Um, there, what I'm about to say might upset some people.
• 31:08
  Cathi Spooner: Um, I don't think so.
• 31:13
  Cathi Spooner: Is, is there really a best play therapy model that works for all children, in all phases of life, for all symptoms?
• 31:25
  Cathi Spooner: I would say no.
• 31:27
  Cathi Spooner: I would say some models are more versatile then other models to be able to adapt to all of the stages, um, of child development.
• 31:40
  Cathi Spooner: You know, like what ages and what's going on.
• 31:43
  Cathi Spooner: I do think there are some models that are much more versatile.
• 31:49
  Cathi Spooner: And now we're using a lot more integrative models like prescriptive play therapy is a model that where you're prescriptively matching the theory model that you're using to the specific issue your client is facing.
• 32:07
  Cathi Spooner: That being said, that you're going to use the principles of the theory model that you're using.
• 32:13
  Cathi Spooner: So prescriptive play therapy is much more of an integrative model in nature, and it's focused on what they call prescriptive matching.
• 32:24
  Cathi Spooner: So whatever is going on with your client, you're going to use a model that best addresses those issues your client is facing.
• 32:32
  Cathi Spooner: Nowadays, we have a lot more integrative models, um, which I think allows a lot more versatility.
• 32:41
  Cathi Spooner: So, I, I think there are some play therapy models that are more effective across a wide spectrum.
• 32:50
  Cathi Spooner: Um, and research has shown us that not every model works the best for every single situation.
• 33:01
  Cathi Spooner: So um, is there one type that works best?
• 33:08
  Cathi Spooner: Yes and no.
• 33:09
  Cathi Spooner: I think some work better across all the stages than others.
• 33:13
  Cathi Spooner: And not everything works for every client.
• 33:21
  Cathi Spooner: Does, does, so what does theory have to do with your results in play therapy?
• 33:27
  Cathi Spooner: The key the key is to recognize that your play therapy is grounded in a theoretical model that helps you, that dictates how your clients are going to access those therapeutic powers of play within the context of a strong therapeutic relationship.
• 33:47
  Cathi Spooner: So your theory model is also going to help you understand where you are in this change process.
• 33:55
  Cathi Spooner: What stage of change are you in and how are you understanding what the problem is so that helps you figure out what intervention you're going to use and your interventions are going to help your clients access those therapeutic powers of play.
• 34:13
  Cathi Spooner: So the thing that keeps us from, from going into kind of a haphazard throwing spaghetti against the wall is really having, um, a model that we're using that grounds the work that we're doing.
• 34:29
  Cathi Spooner: How do you choose a play therapy model?
• 34:32
  Cathi Spooner: I would say the best play therapy model is the model that aligns with, with your values, your beliefs about the healing process, um, and how you like showing up in the playroom.
• 34:51
  Cathi Spooner: And it, and use that, learn at least one theory model, learn at least one that you feel like you align with and learn to do that one well before you start adding on other things.
• 35:06
  Cathi Spooner: So, you want to choose a model that also meets the needs of your specific population, um, so that the one you're, you're using, you, you know, will help the population that you're working with.
• 35:20
  Cathi Spooner: If you're more of a generalist and you work with a variety of different presenting problems, then you want to choose one that, that fits that population.
• 35:32
  Cathi Spooner: If you work with a wide variety of ages.
• 35:36
  Cathi Spooner: then choose a model that will be effective and help you do that.
• 35:43
  Cathi Spooner: So that is all for today.
• 35:45
  Cathi Spooner: If you found this information helpful, please feel free to share it across your social media platforms.
• 35:54
  Cathi Spooner: If you're watching on live stream on YouTube, please feel free to like and subscribe to my channel so that you get notified anytime there's a new live stream coming up.
• 36:07
  Cathi Spooner: Um, if you're listening on the podcast, I would love to get your feedback.
• 36:12
  Cathi Spooner: Please feel free to leave a review.
• 36:15
  Cathi Spooner: So that is it for today.
• 36:17
  Cathi Spooner: I will see you next week.
• 36:19
  Cathi Spooner: Bye for now.
• 36:26
  Cathi Spooner: Thank you for joining me on this episode of Next Level Play Therapy.
• 36:31
  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.
• 36:40
  Cathi Spooner: If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe to the podcast and leave a review.
• 36:45
  Cathi Spooner: Your feedback helps to improve and reach more people who can benefit from this information.
• 36:51
  Cathi Spooner: Remember, play therapy is a powerful tool for healing and growth.
• 36:56
  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.
• 37:07
  Cathi Spooner: If you have any questions or topics, suggestions for future episodes, I'd love to hear from you.
• 37:14
  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.
• 37:27
  Cathi Spooner: Thank you once again for listening to Next Level Play Therapy.
• 37:30
  Cathi Spooner: Until next time, keep playing, learning, and growing.