Latest / Next Level Play Therapy: A Podcast for Play Therapy Excellence / How Do You Create a Sacred Space in Play Therapy for Healing?
Transcript
- 0:02Welcome to Next Level Play Therapy.
- 0:04A weekly podcast dedicated to supporting the next generation of child and adolescent therapists to provide exceptional play therapy services.
- 0:14We'll explore all things play therapy to elevate your work with children and adolescents using the therapeutic powers of play.
- 0:23I'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.
- 0:33So 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.
- 0:47Welcome to this week's episode of Next Level Play Therapy, where we talk about all things play therapy.
- 0:55And today I wanna talk about a concept that I was introduced to back when I was taking a sand tray training when I was living on the East coast.
- 1:10I was taking a sand tray training with the amazing Dr. Dee Preston-Dylan of the Center for Culture and Play.
- 1:18So if you know Dee Preston-Dylan, I would love for you to, uh, post in the comments we can talk about how amazing she is.
- 1:30And if you are on the East coast and you need a sand tray training and you want to go really, really deep and do some of your own self-care as well, then I would definitely check her out.
- 1:46That got me to thinking though, as I have been doing some of my own personal work, I got to, I got, I started remembering that conversation with Dee Preston-Dylan that sand tray training where she introduced this concept of the wounded healer archetype and the way she talked about it was with compassion and resilience and, and how it helps us to become more authentic humans.
- 2:26And I thought about Velveteen Rabbit to be completely honest.
- 2:31Um, a well loved, authentic velveteen rabbit.
- 2:37And I kind of thought about the wounded healer and that velveteen rabbit and how we show up in our play therapy sessions.
- 2:50How we show up for parents and caregivers from a place of authenticity, being a able to access deep, deep wisdom and insight and empathy and unconditional positive regard.
- 3:08And to me, that concept of wounded healer also brings up that whole topic of creating a sacred space for healing.
- 3:22I talked a little bit about, I talked about what is a sacred space for healing in last week's episode.
- 3:31So if this is a topic of interest to you and showing up, showing up authentically and creating that authentic space for healing.
- 3:41Deep, deep, deep healing.
- 3:43Then you may wanna pop over to my YouTube channel, or if you're watching the livestream episode, see the previous week's episode.
- 3:53If you're listening on the podcast, you may wanna listen to last week's podcast.
- 4:00So that's what I wanna talk about this week, is how do you create that sacred space?
- 4:08And what's the role of that wounded healer archetype in that, in that therapeutic rapport that we're building with our clients?
- 4:23Because I feel like I. So if you've listened to any of my previous livestream episodes or listened to any of the previous podcasts, so if you're interested, I have a podcast.
- 4:35It's called Next Level Play Therapy.
- 4:38I also have a YouTube channel.
- 4:39If you're, if you're interested, you can pop over there.
- 4:43It's Cathi Spooner Renewing Hearts Training.
- 4:47Click on the live tab.
- 4:48'cause that's where all the recorded per, uh, replay episodes of the live stream are.
- 4:54So you could watch the video part of it.
- 4:58So that, that got me to thinking about, um, so if, sorry, I lost my train of thought there.
- 5:06So that's what I wanna talk about this week, that idea of how do you create that sacred space, what is the role of that wounded healer archetype, and how do we, how do we do that in a way that honors our clients and allows them to have that free and protected space for healing without all of our stuff, shall we say?
- 5:35Kind of spilling over into the, into the play therapy session or filling over into our work with, with parents and caregivers.
- 5:46So for those of you watching on the live stream episode, I would love to see who's here.
- 5:54Post your name in the comments post, where are you from?
- 5:59What population are you working with?
- 6:02If you're watching on the replay?
- 6:04Perfect opportunity to pop in and join the conversation as well.
- 6:08Watching the replay, what population do you work with and where are you working?
- 6:17I. And if you're watching or listening on the podcast, I would love for you, I'd love to hear from you, so feel free to pop over to my Instagram channel.
- 6:28I live stream on Instagram as well.
- 6:30If you're watching on Instagram, hello Instagram people.
- 6:33Send me a dm, send me a message.
- 6:37Love to say hello.
- 6:40So let's get started for this week.
- 6:44First of all, I want to define what does it mean to be a wounded healer?
- 6:52So like I do so.
- 6:56So like I do when I'm preparing for trainings or preparing for these, um, weekly episodes, I will sometimes consult Dr.
- 7:07Google.
- 7:08'Cause sometimes Dr. Dr. Google has some really interesting and helpful information, sometimes not.
- 7:16And sometimes Dr. Google can be very helpful.
- 7:19So Dr. Google, with its new AI capabilities, um, says I, I love this definition.
- 7:28So I wanted to read the definition, and the definition is to quote Dr. Google.
- 7:35A wounded healer is someone who uses their own painful experiences to help others.
- 7:41The term was coined by a psychologist, um, Carl Jung, the wounded healer archetype.
- 7:47So a wounded healer is someone who uses their own painful experiences to help others.
- 7:57So there's that transformational component.
- 8:01And as play therapists or or those in the mental health profession, how many of us have been the cycle breakers in our own families, where we have taken what we've learned in our own healing process and have that become our mission, our purpose in life to help others heal.
- 8:30I can remember as a little girl, I mean little girl.
- 8:35I can remember being, I read all the books when I was little.
- 8:40If there was a book about helping kids heal or about kids and families overcoming obstacles, I read it.
- 8:53I loved all those stories in my little kid mind.
- 8:58I was going to save children.
- 9:02And for, you know, I.
- 9:04It, it was interesting 'cause I always remember as a little girl, I knew there were things off in my family.
- 9:11Like my mom would do some things and I would think to myself, Hmm, I I don't think that's a healthy thing.
- 9:20I think something's wrong here.
- 9:23I laugh now.
- 9:24Back then it was pretty, uh, it was pretty weird as a kid to think, hmm.
- 9:30Everybody is acting like this is normal, but I don't think this is normal.
- 9:34I think something's wrong here.
- 9:36And it wasn't until I got to adult, it got into my own healing process that I real, I kind of jumped for joy a little bit because I, I felt a little validated, like I was right as a kid.
- 9:48I was right there.
- 9:49This, there were some things going on here that were totally not good.
- 9:55Like, and then, you know, looking back on the generational cycles that my parents were living through.
- 10:02And my mom would try, I could, you know, looking back as an adult, I can try.
- 10:08Oh, I think my mom was really trying here.
- 10:10It just didn't stick.
- 10:12Um, and I have a good relationship with my mom before my dad died.
- 10:19We had a good relationship.
- 10:21So, you know, healing happens and, um, I, I, it kind of brings up that idea of what does it mean to be a wounded healer and how do we use that?
- 10:37So I remember as a kid thinking, I'm gonna help kids heal.
- 10:42That's what I'm gonna do.
- 10:44But I didn't know how, 'cause I was a kid.
- 10:46And until you, uh, do a little internal house cleaning, you're not gonna be very effective.
- 10:53So at some point realizing, you know what, this therapy thing, there's something you can do to help kids, I'm all in.
- 11:03And, and it became a, a calling, a purpose.
- 11:08I would say now, you know, almost 35 years later now, I would say my purpose is helping other play therapists and supporting new and seasoned play therapist in the work that you're doing.
- 11:25And when I talk to play therapists.
- 11:28People, uh, child and adolescent therapists interested in becoming play therapists I hear the same thing over and over.
- 11:38In Play Therapy Academy, when we're having our consultation meetings.
- 11:43I hear the same thing over and over, and that is, it feels like a calling, it feels like a purpose, not just a job.
- 11:54I, there's that, and to me, that's the sacred journey.
- 11:58That desire to help others come out of what I call the darkness, right, come out of the darkness as therapists and play therapists.
- 12:09We know the way out.
- 12:11I've always thought about it that way.
- 12:13Like my calling is to be a light in the darkness as a play therapists.
- 12:18And so we go into those dark places with our clients, with family members, with parents.
- 12:27In a compassionate and supportive, empathic, knowledgeable way and help them find their way out.
- 12:38And to me, that's what it means to be the wounded healer.
- 12:41That's what it means to create that sacred space.
- 12:45We are using our theoretical model to ground us and help us understand how to help our clients out of those dark places.
- 13:00In order to do that, we also have to have strong therapeutic rapport and to, so we need, we need both, right?
- 13:09We need the theory to ground us, help us understand what's going on, what are the roots of the problem.
- 13:16That's our case conceptualization.
- 13:19Case conceptualization and theory without relationship does not work.
- 13:25Our clients need to trust us.
- 13:28They need to experience compassion and empathy with boundaries.
- 13:35There are boundaries.
- 13:37In order to, to be willing to go on the journey with us and to trust us as their guide to help them out of those dark places.
- 13:47And that's what we do as play therapists.
- 13:51Okay, so I wanna do a little full disclosure here for, for those of you listening or watching.
- 14:01My dog, Luna has entered the room.
- 14:04So when my husband goes off to work, I do these live streams early in the morning when my husband goes off to work, he has to open the door to my office because he has to let my dog Luna in.
- 14:17And Luna is now, she hears me saying her name.
- 14:20Yep.
- 14:22She hears me saying her name.
- 14:25Luna is in the office with me.
- 14:27And so when Luna comes in the office, she, she likes to make herself comfortable and in order to make herself comfortable, she's got to dig in the carpet like somehow it's gonna create this comfy, cozy spot for her to lay.
- 14:43But sometimes that doesn't cut it.
- 14:45So she's got to do a lot of digging and then she's gotta roll around and moan some of you watching on the video um, in live stream and on LinkedIn, you may see, I saw this once when I was going through and editing, like reviewing some of the videos to kind of repurpose some of the clips and I saw Luna's little tail in the background of the video.
- 15:10So in some of the old videos, if you're watching on, especially if you're watching on um, LinkedIn or if you're watching on YouTube, you're seeing, I may see her little black and white tail in the background.
- 15:24So anyways, if you hear moaning or she, you hear these weird sounds in the background.
- 15:30There is not anything untoward, to use an old word there.
- 15:36Um, there is no, there is, there's not anything, uh, going on in the background that's not okay, or weird or a little, uh, concerning is just my dog, Luna.
- 15:48Ooh.
- 15:49She's getting really comfy.
- 15:50Just my, my dog Luna, hanging out with mom.
- 15:54Um, so.
- 15:57Um, just so you know.
- 15:59All righty.
- 16:00So we have, oh, awesome.
- 16:03So we have Barbara from Annapolis, Maryland.
- 16:07Glad to have found your presentation.
- 16:08Hey Barbara.
- 16:09Hey, I am actually from, well, Virginia side, so I'm very aware of Annapolis, Maryland.
- 16:17So I'm always happy to connect with my East Coast peeps.
- 16:22And it's, it's beach season now, so, uh, hanging out in Ocean City, Maryland, some of the other beaches, I'm sure you're gonna be doing some of that.
- 16:35And Annapolis is beautiful.
- 16:37I love Annapolis, especially at 4th of July.
- 16:41They just, I don't know if they still do that.
- 16:43Um, yeah.
- 16:45So welcome.
- 16:46Awesome to have you.
- 16:49So first let's define what is a wounded healer?
- 16:56So, um, as, as Dr. Google has, uh, defined a wounded healer or someone who uses their own painful experiences to help others from a practical standpoint, I feel like this is the way in which we show up authentically in a healthy way with boundaries, um, accessing the wisdom that we've learned from our own healing journey to help us show up authentically and in a real way, in sessions with our clients, with parents and caregivers so that, so that they can trust us and engage in the healing process.
- 17:46As those of us who are accessing that wounded healer a archetype to show up authentically, we are showing up with empathy.
- 17:57We are showing up with unconditional positive regard.
- 18:02These are all the ways that we hold that space.
- 18:05The way that we do that though, here are some characteristics that we're thinking about to me that are the resilience aspects of that wounded, wounded healer archetype, and that is empathy.
- 18:18We have great empathy for the the cost of engaging in the healing journey.
- 18:26We have insights that we've learned, some of our own wisdom that we've gained along the way.
- 18:33We, we know resourcefulness.
- 18:35We know that if you keep on trying that it will eventually work out.
- 18:42Um, not to give up.
- 18:44We know to listen deeply and as we're listening deeply, then we're also demonstrating acceptance.
- 18:53So, so we can accept, this is where I like DBT, Dialectical Behavior Therapy.
- 19:00Uh, therapy.
- 19:01So dialectical behavior therapy, acceptance and change.
- 19:05Acceptance is our clients are doing the best they can at any moment in time.
- 19:11The change part is, and they can do better.
- 19:14And that acceptance of our clients are doing the best that they can.
- 19:21Even when you hear things in the playroom that you think to yourself, oh my goodness, my brain just went tilt.
- 19:29So you may have to hold some boundaries.
- 19:31We are mandated reporters.
- 19:34The goal of um, therapy is always safety first, right?
- 19:40Safety first.
- 19:41Safety first.
- 19:42Safety first.
- 19:44And as we're also holding that our clients are doing the best they can.
- 19:50Parents are doing the best they can.
- 19:53They're not gonna trust us unless they feel like you're not judging them.
- 19:57We may be holding boundaries that's different than judging.
- 20:02Boundaries is not judging.
- 20:06I know that one gets people confused all the time.
- 20:09Um, so.
- 20:12So that, so that's what it means to be a wounded healer.
- 20:15And how does that, how does that influence how we hold that sacred space?
- 20:23So that sacred space is that the idea that in here, in the playroom, in this, in this office, when we're meeting with parents.
- 20:35In here, I'm going to show up in a way that is not judgmental.
- 20:44I'm showing compassion.
- 20:47I am having empathy.
- 20:49I am listening deeply in a non-judgmental way.
- 20:55And I'm gonna hold, hold confidentiality.
- 20:59There are exceptions to confidentiality, so we always have to make sure those are clear from the get go.
- 21:07So unless it's a mandated safety reporting thing, then we are holding hard stories and we are holding privacy and figuring out what that looks like in a therapeutic way in this session.
- 21:26Because that's, that's what creates that sacred space.
- 21:32When we, when we hold that space in a way where clients feel accepted, they feel like they're not judged, they know the boundaries.
- 21:42They know what to expect, they will settle in, and when they trust you, then they will go to those deeper places.
- 21:50Right?
- 21:51We know from neuroscience that people have to access their social engagement circuits in order to let down their guard and feel safe.
- 22:06And only when they feel safe will they be vulnerable.
- 22:09That's what we ask people to do in the play therapy office, in therapy in general.
- 22:15We ask people to come in and be vulnerable to talk about those things or to work through those things that they don't necessarily want to talk to others about because others won't get it and they won't understand, but they need a place to be able to do that.
- 22:33To be able to talk about the things where they feel shame or children need to be able to play out those things that they're trying to make sense of or trying to overcome.
- 22:46And they need to feel like that they can do that and not freak you out, and that they feel like it's gonna be private so they don't have to worry about what their parents are gonna say.
- 23:00Which their parents probably already know most of it anyway, but kids need to feel like they can do that because they need to feel like they have a space where they can go into those hard areas and figure things out with you as that compassionate presence that anchors the sessions in the change process.
- 23:27Um.
- 23:29Sorry, I was reading Barbara's quote.
- 23:31Yes, great little town.
- 23:32She says Annapolis.
- 23:34Yeah.
- 23:35Um, so that's how we hold that space.
- 23:40We, we want to have that space where the client can openly share their thoughts and feelings without fear of judgment that allows them to go to those deep places.
- 23:52Unless they, we have a strong therapeutic relationship with them, then they're not going to do that.
- 23:58Because we know from neuroscience that, that, that in order to engage social engagement circuits, they first have to deactivate those neuroception circuits, those threat circuits that are constantly assessing for threat.
- 24:16And so creating that sacred space means providing that free and protected space.
- 24:23And as wounded healers, because we get things at a deeper level in some areas, not not everywhere.
- 24:31And we understand what it means to work through that healing.
- 24:37We understand some nuances maybe at a deeper level than somebody who hasn't gone through that.
- 24:45It doesn't mean we experience everything, and if we don't experience everything that we can't show up, authentically.
- 24:53It doesn't mean that What it means is we can access deep compassion, we can access deep wisdom.
- 25:00As long as we stay anchored in ourselves, we have to be well regulated.
- 25:07We have to know how to therapeutically hold with acceptance and change.
- 25:14There's the boundaries in there as well, and we can use that deep wisdom.
- 25:20And here's the thing, like it's not always gonna be perfect all the time.
- 25:24We're not, we're not talking about being perfect people.
- 25:28We are talking about being wise.
- 25:30We're talking about accessing the wisdom that we've learned along the way from our own healing journey.
- 25:37Doesn't mean we do it perfectly.
- 25:40I mean, we talk about this in Play Therapy Academy.
- 25:42This is one of my favorite things about Play Therapy Academy, and if you talk to anybody in Play Therapy Academy, they will tell you the same thing, like to the person, they'll all say the same thing and they won't be prompted by me.
- 25:58They'll share this spontaneously.
- 26:00And in some of the past, uh, episodes, I've had some Play Therapy Academy members come on to these episodes and share their gifts.
- 26:12So what it's a, it's a, it's a free and protected space, right?
- 26:17With boundaries and where, where.
- 26:22We can use our community support.
- 26:24Like, Hey, I'm struggling with this.
- 26:26We need to support each other I think in the play therapy community, because we do hold hard stories, it is hard, hard things and we can't just talk to anybody about it.
- 26:39'cause not anybody's gonna get it.
- 26:41And, in Play Therapy Academy, we'll kind of help help each other.
- 26:46Hey, I think I'm in a little stuck here.
- 26:49I'm getting stuck.
- 26:50You know, this got activated.
- 26:52I hate to say this.
- 26:53It's, and I need help knowing how to hold this.
- 26:58I need help knowing what to do with this, and then how do I set that aside so that I could show up authentically, in play therapy sessions?
- 27:08How do I set this aside so I can be more effective when I'm working with caregivers and parents?
- 27:15Like this to me is why we need community.
- 27:19I. As mental health com professionals, as play therapists, being part of a community of support means we don't have to hold these hard stories by ourselves.
- 27:34And when our little wounded healer archetype gets activated, the shadow A aspects right.
- 27:42Those get activated.
- 27:43We have a place to go where we can sort those through so that we can access the light attributes of that wounded healer archetype.
- 27:55So having that, having that community can be very beneficial to do this, this work that we're doing.
- 28:03And.
- 28:05Um, if you're interested, I am gonna talk a little bit more about Play Therapy Academy at the end, if you're interested.
- 28:11I do have a couple of spaces open.
- 28:15The spaces are limited in Play Therapy Academy.
- 28:19Um, so if you're interested, I have a couple of spots and then I, I will tell you a little bit about it at the end.
- 28:27So holding that space, holding that sacred space means we also have boundaries.
- 28:35So showing up authentically with boundaries means we need to recognize the difference between when we are in that wounded space versus when we're accessing the is insights and wisdom and compassion from that, that place that where we've overcome and we've, we've healed.
- 29:03Because that's how we are um, making sure that we don't show up in our wounded place and then create some challenges there.
- 29:15Does it mean sometimes we will, because sometimes we're not perfect.
- 29:19Yes.
- 29:21This is where your strong relationship with clients, professional relationship will help keep them grounded and then you go through the repair work with them.
- 29:30Right?
- 29:31I love using a neuroscience and attachment lens, even as a therapist.
- 29:39One, to understand what's going on with my clients, making sense of that, understanding generational histories of trauma, attachment, poverty and what that looks like, and helping parents break generational cycles for their children, working with children to help children break generational cycles in their families and learn how to heal.
- 30:06That to me is the, the, that's the gift of being a play therapist, the gift that we get to witness as well as the gift that we give to help families walk out of those really hard places.
- 30:23So, um, we need to know when we're, we need to recognize when we're acting in that wounded place versus acting in that place of healing and accessing deep wisdom.
- 30:40And so some of the things we need to be aware when I'm triggered, when I'm not doing my self care and I'm feeling a little crispy fried, um.
- 30:51That's a good indi.
- 30:52We hold hard stories.
- 30:53We just had this conversation recently in Play Therapy Academy where self-care, we've, we've got to put the oxygen mask on first, right?
- 31:04That airplane analogy that you use.
- 31:07We parents all the time.
- 31:09We have to use it for ourselves.
- 31:11Previous episodes, I've talked about this as well, so if you're interested in, in this topic, you may wanna look at some of those previous episodes where we, we talk about self-care and the role of self-care to make sure that we are filling up our, our, our own wells, because you can't give from an empty well.
- 31:35And to me that means some of the things that we need to do are tap into our own spiritual practice, tap into nature.
- 31:47If that fills you up.
- 31:49For me, tapping into my own spiritual practice, tapping into nature, but also my family is what grounds me.
- 31:58Making sure that I'm spending time with family and making sure, first and foremost, that I am prioritizing that.
- 32:07Which is hard, 'cause sometimes I, you know, when your kids are little and you're doing play therapy and helping other people, and you're working full time and you have your family and you're taking care of bills and going grocery shopping and doing all the things.
- 32:20Sometimes we can have a little bit of that guilt, like, oh, I'm giving more to my clients than I am to my own kids.
- 32:27Right?
- 32:28It's a horrible feeling.
- 32:30Mommy guilt is real.
- 32:31I'm sure daddy guilt is real too.
- 32:33Talk to my husband.
- 32:34He'll say, daddy, guilt is real.
- 32:36It's a thing.
- 32:37It's a real thing.
- 32:38So what does that mean when that kicks up?
- 32:41It is a red flag that says, Hey, take a step back.
- 32:46Who owns this problem?
- 32:48You or your clients?
- 32:50Give it back to your clients.
- 32:51Take a step back.
- 32:52Do your self-care.
- 32:54Reconnect with the important people in your life.
- 32:57We need to do all of these things so that we show up in our sessions as our best versions of play therapists.
- 33:06First, though, it means we have to take care of ourselves.
- 33:11And there are things that we have to hold boundaries around.
- 33:14Like we're not going to share if, uh, we're not gonna do any self-disclosure if we're doing it from a wounded place that serves nobody.
- 33:25But also even I sharing some self disclosure.
- 33:30You have to think about whether or not it's beneficial.
- 33:33Does the client need to hear it?
- 33:36Because sometimes even if it's coming from a healthy place, the timing or uh, is not right or it's not something clients need to hear.
- 33:46We can access it.
- 33:47Oh yeah, to, to access compassion and deep empathy.
- 33:51Doesn't need mean we need to share it because sometimes it can backfire on you.
- 33:57So you have to be really clear about that.
- 34:01And for some kids, um, they don't, or parents, I would say like sometimes sharing, sharing some of your own experiences can be beneficial, but sometimes sharing some information about yourself can give this um, un create unrealistic expectations.
- 34:24Meaning like, oh, we align in this area, which means you're gonna make my kids align.
- 34:31And that's not true.
- 34:32It doesn't, it's not how it works.
- 34:34So you have to be really careful about that in order to maintain that free and protected space for your clients.
- 34:42So what do I mean by that?
- 34:44What I mean by that is we're honoring our own healing, healing journey while holding space for our clients and their healing journey.
- 34:56So for example.
- 34:59Um, if you have a client, let's say you're working with a family who has deep religious beliefs and may maybe their 8-year-old child is exploring because they're 8-year-old child is maybe got some neurodiversity.
- 35:23Operates outside of the box, doesn't follow typical norms.
- 35:28Maybe they're not picking up on the norms of the typical society.
- 35:34And maybe they've got some things they wanna explore, like maybe they wanna explore gender and in the playroom there, maybe it's a, a little boy and the little boy wants to explore wearing princess dresses or playing with baby dolls.
- 35:49Which outside of the play therapy session might create some challenges for them and they might be worried about parents' response.
- 36:00And there's, there's the tricky part, right?
- 36:02Where we're align, we're working with parents and developing rapport with them.
- 36:06We're also holding space for children to do what they need to do.
- 36:11And so sometimes we hold things that are in, uh, opposition to each other while we help families navigate the change process.
- 36:20And so in the playroom, we can allow the child to explore what the child needs to explore because in order to get a better understanding of what's going on for the child, it is helpful to see what is, what it is that they're working through and how they're making sense of the world and what's going on in their lives.
- 36:40Or maybe you have children who have their own deep spiritual beliefs and they want to play those out in the playroom.
- 36:50As play therapists, we allow them to do that.
- 36:54Maybe in some families there's been some trauma that has happened and the child needs a place to work that through.
- 37:04Parents need their own place to work that through.
- 37:08So we as therapists have to be able to hold that our clients may even have different beliefs.
- 37:16They might have different values from us.
- 37:19They might even work through the process in a way that's different than the way we worked through it.
- 37:27We have to allow them to, that's we have to allow them to figure out their journey, right?
- 37:35That's what it means to hold that free and protected space for them.
- 37:41What does that look like for them?
- 37:43It might be the long windy road, or it might be a very direct route.
- 37:49It is their journey.
- 37:51We need to release control to them and allow them to work through the journey as they need to work through the journey.
- 37:59And to me, this is where we need support and help to do that because sometimes it's hard to hold those stories.
- 38:08So that is it for today.
- 38:10Let me, so we're talking about how to create a sacred space and play therapy for healing.
- 38:16And let me just do a quick re recap, kind of defining what is a wounded healer.
- 38:23The wounded healer archetype was coined by Carl Young, and it's that idea of those that healing journey that we've gone through and worked through those painful experiences and now we are, we are come to a, a different place.
- 38:42We use the wisdom and the insights and the empathy and compassion that we can access through those experiences to create a, a free and protected space for our clients.
- 38:57And holding that free and protected space means we're showing up with unconditional positive regard.
- 39:04We are listening deeply to what's being said so our clients can experience that felt sense of being seen and heard by a compassionate, non-judgmental other.
- 39:20And that we're, we're maintaining that privacy.
- 39:24It's a private space, confidential with boundaries.
- 39:27We are mandated reporters.
- 39:28Safety is always first.
- 39:31And we hold hard stories maintaining that privacy so that our clients can feel comfortable working through some of those vulnerable and challenging places that they need to work through in order to access healing.
- 39:48And that's the boundaries, right?
- 39:50We have boundaries.
- 39:51We have boundaries with ourselves.
- 39:53We need to make sure that we are operating from a, a healthy place versus a when we are, our, our own wounds have gotten activated.
- 40:07We need to recognize when that happens.
- 40:09We need to do our self care to make sure that we're filling up our own well, so to speak, before we pour out to others.
- 40:18Because sometimes also we need to think about is this self-disclosure.
- 40:25If I wanna use a little self-disclosure, is that going to be effective?
- 40:30It has to be the purpose, sole purpose of helping clients heal.
- 40:36And so sometimes we'll, we'll access the memory or the wisdom, but we don't necessarily have to share our own experiences because we can hold that for our clients and allow them to navigate their healing in a way that's authentic for them.
- 40:56And so that's honoring our own healing, while also holding space for the child's healing, holding space in our work with parents for the purpose of helping children heal.
- 41:11So that is it for today if you're interested in Play Therapy Academy.
- 41:18Play Therapy Academy is my online consultation program for play therapists who really wanna deep dive, uh, into learning to become a play therapist, learning the skills.
- 41:34Moving from what I call that self-doubting play therapist to becoming a confident play therapy expert.
- 41:43We have twice a month consultation calls where we staff cases, we support each other, we give feedback.
- 41:51There's courses in the program to help you develop your foundation.
- 41:57Um, some solid foundational skills that you can build from along as you continue your journey of, of being a play therapist.
- 42:09We have, uh, online support.
- 42:12We have a group chat where we give each other support.
- 42:16There's lots of other bonuses in there as well.
- 42:19If you're interested or feel like you're ready to take that next step to becoming a a play therapist, then schedule a video call with me and we'll see how Play Therapy Academy can help you become a play therapist.
- 42:36If it's a good fit, great.
- 42:38If it's not a great fit, then we've connected and that'll be awesome.
- 42:43So if you've been thinking about taking your play therapy skills to the next level and you really want to, you feel like this is the time.
- 42:53Then schedule a video call.
- 42:55So you can do that by hopping over to my website at rh play therapy training.com.
- 43:03Hop over to the con uh, supervision page.
- 43:07And, uh, my, so FYI, any of you watching on the replay, um, my virtual and assistant and I are, are re gonna be revamping my website a little bit.
- 43:19So we're gonna revamp that supervision page a little bit.
- 43:22It might be called, I forgot what I told, I forgot what I told my virtual assistant may what I wanted to call it.
- 43:30I think we're calling it.
- 43:31Consultation page.
- 43:33Anyway, hop over right now it's called Supervision Page.
- 43:37Maybe later it'll be called Consultation Page Pop over there, you can find out a little bit more about Play Therapy Academy and you can also schedule, there'll be a link to schedule a video call with me to find out if it's a good fit for you.
- 43:54We're also gonna post the links and the comments.
- 43:58So feel free to check out the comments.
- 44:01Head over to my website, rh play therapy.com.
- 44:07Hop over to the supervision page that's renewing hearts play therapy training.com and I will see you guys next week.
- 44:16Bye for now.
- 44:22Thank you for joining me on this episode of Next Level Play Therapy.
- 44:26I hope you found the discussion valuable and gained new insights and ideas to support your work helping children, adolescents, and families heal.
- 44:36If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe to the podcast and leave a review.
- 44:41Your feedback helps to improve and reach more people who can benefit from this information.
- 44:47Remember, play therapy is a powerful tool for healing and growth.
- 44:52Whether 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 in relationships.
- 45:03If you have any questions or topics, suggestions for future episodes.
- 45:08I'd love to hear from you.
- 45:10Connect with me on social media and visit my website at Renewing Hearts Play Therapy Training to stay updated on upcoming episodes, trainings, and resources.
- 45:23Thank you once again for listening to Next Level Play Therapy.
- 45:26Until next time, keep playing, learning and growing.