Latest / The Play Therapy Circle / Episode 15- Conducting Parent/ Carer Consultations in CCPT Part One

Transcript

Episode 15- Conducting Parent/ Carer Consultations in CCPT Part One · The Play Therapy Circle

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Hi and welcome to an episode of the Play Therapy Circle.
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I'm Kylie Ellison, a therapist, clinical supervisor and play
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therapy trainer, and I'm so grateful you're here.
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This podcast is a space for thoughtful, soulful
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conversations about child centred therapy, play based work
0:25
and what it means to show up with presence and compassion
0:29
both for our clients and for ourselves.
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Whether you're a seasoned play therapist, a student just
0:35
starting out, or someone deeply passionate about working with
0:39
children, you belong here. Hello everyone, welcome to the
0:46
Play Therapy Circle podcast video edition.
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This is so cool. Welcome to our new studio which
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we have literally created last night because you know what, I'm
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like that I'm not good with being organised.
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This is so different because usually I don't have anyone to
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look at because I don't have a video.
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So I hope you guys enjoy this new format.
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We are pivoting to having the podcast both in audio on
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Spotify, our podcasts and we get good podcasts and also on
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YouTube. So you'll be able to access this
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video on YouTube as well. So I have so many disclaimers to
1:30
give here, I guess with what we've got set up here.
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So this is my space at home, you guys.
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So I am definitely feeling a little bit more kind of chill
1:43
that I can have on this beautiful little lounge that
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I've got, which of course is pink.
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So for those of you listening on Spotify and Apple Podcast, you
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can't see this right now, but hopefully you'll get a chance to
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see our video on YouTube soon. So you know what I'm talking
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about. And we will pop up a picture on
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our Instagram as well so that you can see it in all its glory.
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But I think it's coming together.
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I do need to put some sort of sheer curtain to just kind of
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soften it a little bit. But I have a beautiful picture
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behind me here completed. It is obviously available
2:22
through Kmart for those of you in Australia, but it has been
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done by a beautiful Indigenous woman who has created this
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picture that I just love because it's all about pink pink.
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And I love pink. And so for those of you watching
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on YouTube, you can see I've got my pink minky blanket.
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I freaking love those blankets. If anyone in the US knows what
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I'm talking about, I'm kind of obsessed with secret lives and
2:49
wives. This is just like a little bit
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of a deep dive into my life right now.
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And so I have like 4 minky blankets because they're
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amazing, the weighted blankets. Highly, highly recommend.
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So lots of pink in this space, which I love, but really nice
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that I'm no longer recording, you know, in on my couch, you
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know, in spaces where it just didn't feel as connected and
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grounded. And I think that in doing this,
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I just love the fact that we are connecting in this way where I
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can actually see everyone. Well, I can't see everyone, but
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I'm doing a recording right now because I know that we are
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connecting with more and more people as we go through each
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episode, which is just amazing and I love that so much.
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So this is fantastic. I'm so excited.
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This will continue to evolve as does everything in life.
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So I know that we will keep adding to this space as we
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continue with our episodes. But we'd love your feedback if
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you like our setup here. I think it's really cool.
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Normally also too many to give a caveat that I would normally
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have my microphone on a stand. This is the very first time I'm
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holding it. So if you can hear different
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sound levels, it's because I am learning how to do this.
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I have no idea what I'm doing. No, I do.
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It will be great. So I wanted to say hi to
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everyone listening. I hope that you have had a great
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week. It is moving into towards the
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back end of October 2025. You guys, I have absolutely no
4:22
idea where the year has gone and I know I do this check in with
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you guys at the start of every episode.
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So how are you doing? First and foremost, how are you
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doing? Are you doing well or are you
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having a week? And either answer is fine and
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everything in between is fine as well.
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I think that we are certainly seeing, you know, throughout
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practise lots of progression, I guess in complexity of cases
4:50
that we're working with. So I just want to acknowledge
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for all of you in the play therapy trenches, I see you.
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I absolutely see you. It's not easy, but we are doing
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incredible work. And like I always say, it's the
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blessing and the curse of the work that we do.
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We have this incredible blessing of being able to work with kids
5:08
in this way and to be able to hear their stories and help them
5:11
heal. But it is also a great
5:14
responsibility as well. And so it has its its positives
5:18
and challenges as anything in life does.
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So I just want to send any love to anyone who's having a tough
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week this week. Yeah, there is definitely people
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in my community who are not having a good time right now.
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So I just want to send all my love to all of you.
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I don't know if you guys follow Instagram and again, if you're
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listening on Spotify, you will not be able to see this or our
5:40
podcast. But if you follow us on
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Instagram, I posted a story a couple of days ago.
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I bought a Grinch. Well, I'm using it for my iced
5:49
coffee, but a a Grinch drink bottle from Target here in
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Australia. I just showed it to the camera.
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You have to get it. If you love Christmas like I do
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and brace yourselves guys, for the Christmas spam in the next
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couple of months with our episodes because I'm obsessed.
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So I think it just brings so much joy.
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So I think we all need that at this time of the year.
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So if this resonates with you, this is your reminder to go and
6:12
buy a Christmas tumbler. OK, I want to dive into the
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topic for today. I know that we have a lot to
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cover and I wanna do justice to it because I think there is so
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much and so many elements of this particular topic that's
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important for us to work through.
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So what I would like to do is structure today's podcast by
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talking about how to conduct initial parent consultations.
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I want to talk about how to do then those follow up parent
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consultations and I do want to cover off on a couple of
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different topics that are important for us to consider in
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this space of the challenges we face in giving feedback to
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parents. Some of those common pitfalls
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that we all fall into either as a beginning play therapist or
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sometimes as a seasoned 1 and also those ethical
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considerations. So there is a lot to cover.
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So I encourage you guys to grab a tea, a coffee, settle in
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because we've got so much to cover.
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OK. So what I want to start off by
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saying that I think is really important is that we know from
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the meta analysis of child centre play therapy in the
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research literature available currently that caregiver
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involvement is one of those key components for us to be able to
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have effective and successful outcomes in therapy.
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That is, you know, standard here.
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We all accept that's part of the research.
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So I know for many beginning play therapists, they can feel a
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lot of pressure in feeling like you need to get this right, I
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guess. And especially in the beginning,
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I always say that having experiences of working on the
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ground, doing play therapy, doing those parent consultations
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only builds your skill set and your knowledge and your
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experience. And it is through that
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experience that we gain that confidence.
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So I wanna send that special message to anyone who is just
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diving into their play therapy career.
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Be super kind to yourselves because it's important that you
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don't put that much pressure on yourselves because that will
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often kind of permeate into your work if you're feeling that
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anxiety. So see it as an opportunity
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every time you do an initial consultation as an opportunity
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to build your knowledge and skills as opposed to feeling
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like it's intimidating, overwhelming, and not knowing
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where to start. So I definitely want to cover
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off how to do an initial and ongoing parent consultations.
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And I need to declare from the outset this is something I use.
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Certainly, there would be others in our community who use
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variations of that and we are all welcome in the circle.
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So I think we all help to build that knowledge and skill set of
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our profession. So this is just one viewpoint
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and I'm sure there are many others out there as well.
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So I had to give that big caveat at the start just so I am
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outlining, I guess what I'm going to do.
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So with building those relationships, we've talked
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earlier episodes about the importance of that therapist
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parent relationship. It is critical for that success.
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But I also want to make sure that I emphasise here that it is
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a gradual process just like we see in the playroom.
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So it's not going to be something that in that initial
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consultation, you're going to immediately, you know, connect
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with a parent and it's going to be highly successful.
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Sometimes those ruptures and repairs, like we know in the
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attunement cycle of the kids that we work with in their
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formative views, that happens with our parents as well.
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There are times where there is challenges, where there is
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difficult conversations and so I'm always emphasising when I'm
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talking about this topic that I think it's really important that
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we take it gradually. But we are very conscious of
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investing in that relationship ongoing because it is important
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for us to work holistically, systemically, but also
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recognising we will have greater success if we have caregiver buy
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in. So really focusing on that
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relationship guys, I can't emphasise that enough.
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And so how do I do that when I start an initial consultation?
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So you might be a new play therapist thinking I, I feel so
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overwhelmed by all of this. I'm not sure where to start or
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how to do it. So I think as we say in the
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playroom with children in that first play therapy session, we
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say that we meet the child, that the play therapy session begins
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when we meet them in the waiting room.
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It is exactly the same with parents and caregivers.
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So when we are connecting with them in the waiting room, it's
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our beginning opportunity to I guess make a good impression.
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I don't necessarily see it any more is that I guess, but it's
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more around wanting to provide an inviting and comfortable and
11:16
welcoming space. So being really mindful of your
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waiting room and what that looks like.
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We have lots of colour, I'm sure you can imagine in our waiting
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room area. We've got beautiful purple walls
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and beautiful art and things around the room so that it feels
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welcoming. We've got couches, things like
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that. I think everyone's got great
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ideas, certainly in our circle of what their waiting rooms look
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like. But being really mindful of that
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first step of them literally opening the door and coming into
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your waiting room area, then it's about welcoming, welcoming
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them in to the space, so bringing them into your
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consultation room. And I always think, and I don't
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like to put my pressure, pressure on myself by saying
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this. And so I want to also say this
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to you guys too, so that you also don't feel pressure.
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But I do think that first 5 minutes is kind of crucial.
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And we know from the research it is too.
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So if you know, you have a new client and a new parent, they're
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really going to spend kind of that first 5 minutes sort of
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deciding, are you somebody that I feel like I connect with or
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trust? So what do I do to tackle that?
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Very simply, I stay true to my tenants of CCPTI, am congruent,
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empathetic and authentic, and I like to help them to feel
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comfortable. So I will say to them, did you
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have any trouble finding us today?
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It seems like a really, I guess, kind of innocuous or kind of
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casual question, but really it's kind of breaking the ice.
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And it is like we say in the playroom, in that exploratory
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stage, kids will often gravitate to the things that they know how
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to do to help them to build and feel that sense of safety and
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predictability in the room, right?
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So we do the same with parents. So we'll say to them, and you're
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having trouble finding place. The car park is a nightmare,
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right? Like sometimes it's really hard
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to find car park. Like I'm just really kind of
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casually breaking the ice, helping them to help Co regulate
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because they will be anxious as well.
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It is a big deal for a parent to come to a therapist and say, I'm
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having trouble with my child and I don't know what to do.
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And actually, I'm in crisis like that is so incredibly
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vulnerable. And so I want to acknowledge
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that that is a huge step for them literally to come to the
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office like we do with children like this is, I guess I hope
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this is making sense in terms of how I connect my work and how
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CCPT lives in every part of my practise, right?
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And so I'm always saying that I work with children of all ages.
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And I genuinely mean that. I think that if we come from
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that space of recognising that some parents may not have
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necessarily had their own counselling themselves or
14:05
therapy intervention as a child when they potentially needed it,
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we are literally meeting that inner child when we connect with
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them. So I want to honour that and
14:14
respect that and acknowledge that and show empathy to that.
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So that is also very challenging.
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We know that's challenging the playroom.
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It's challenging with parents as well.
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So I'm spending that first 5 minutes breaking the ice.
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I'm asking them if they need, you know, tea or coffee or
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water, just making sure that they feel comfortable, that
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they're where they're seated, you know, they feel OK.
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Do they need a cushion? That kind of thing.
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Just so that I want them to be able to regulate themselves
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enough to be able to start some pretty difficult conversations
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right around how their child is going.
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So investing in that time is important.
14:52
Then we go into, and certainly for me, this is how I like to
14:56
start on that conversation of an initial consultation of what's
14:59
brought you here today. And we know that I'm in
15:02
counselling practise. That's pretty standard for adult
15:04
counselling clients. I do that because, again, I am
15:10
coming from the framework of wanting to invest in the parent
15:14
and wanting to make sure that they feel unseen and heard.
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We know in the playroom that it's important for kids to feel
15:21
that sense of safety and trust with us.
15:24
And so feeling like I'm not directing that meeting with them
15:30
by asking a bunch of questions and kind of scaffolding I guess
15:35
that conversation in the beginning.
15:37
So they feel like, well, you know, the therapist is in the
15:40
lead. I want them to feel like they
15:42
can have their say because often times for many of our clients
15:47
say in the child protection space, in separated family
15:50
spaces, the parents and maybe it's mom, maybe it's dad, maybe
15:54
it's both. They don't feel like they've
15:56
been heard, they don't feel like they've been heard, and they
15:59
don't feel like anyone is willing or interested to listen.
16:04
So I really want to invest in that.
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That's so important. So I'm spending some time saying
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to them, what has brought you here?
16:12
What kind of drew you to coming to play therapy?
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Start wherever you like. And then I'm letting them tell
16:19
me all of the things I feel like sometimes.
16:22
And again, for more seasons, play therapist, you might have
16:26
other experiences. So I, I certainly welcome that
16:29
feedback as well. But for me, I have found that
16:33
it's usually I guess two kind of presentations.
16:36
You've either got a parent who is just so anxious, so
16:39
overwhelmed, doesn't know where to start, struggles to I guess
16:44
kind of articulate or is a little bit closed off.
16:48
And that's OK. We want to acknowledge because
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again, guys, see how I'm connecting the dots here.
16:53
If you put that in the paradigm and the framework of CCPT
16:58
working with kids, we get that in the playroom as well.
17:01
When kids start therapy, there is those kids that are closed
17:04
off, they don't talk, they're shot down, they're not looking
17:08
at us, they've got their back to us.
17:09
All of that happens in the playroom, right?
17:12
So what do we do? What do we do with those kids?
17:15
We trust ourselves, trust the child and trust the process.
17:20
So it's important. We trust ourselves, we trust the
17:23
parent or caregiver in this scenario and we trust that this
17:26
is a process of building that safety and connection with them.
17:31
So for adults, obviously, because they're not playing at
17:34
the time, we do have some questions we can use to start to
17:38
pull that apart. So we might say things like
17:41
what, what are some of the things that you've noticed at
17:43
school? What are some of the things
17:45
you've noticed at home? What are some of those
17:47
challenges you're experiencing? So we might start to kind of
17:49
pull some of those questions from them.
17:53
But it it, you either have two presentations, right?
17:56
So you're going to have that presentation or you're going to
17:58
have the parent who talks for like an hour and 15 minutes and
18:02
you have 15 minutes left to do your questions, right?
18:04
So we are needing to navigate both and again, if we look at
18:09
what Gary Landreth says in terms of facilitating that socially
18:13
acceptable relationship, that is with children of all ages and
18:16
that includes parents and caregivers.
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So I think what is incredible about our approach, but also the
18:23
work we do with parents is that we have this opportunity to be
18:29
able to role model boundaries in those parent consultations as
18:34
well. So acknowledging to them, this
18:37
sounds really important and I really appreciate everything
18:41
that you've shared. I, I'm keen for us to tackle a
18:45
few more different topics. So let's tackle this one now.
18:50
And and so kind of moving through those headings on your
18:53
initial consultation forms. So taking a step back, I know
18:57
some practitioners might send questions ahead of time or you
19:00
might send a questionnaire ahead of time to have a bit of an
19:04
understanding before that initial consultation in person.
19:07
I really believe that initial consultation needs to be in
19:10
person where we can. We are talking about a real
19:15
relationship here and I think that being able to meet face to
19:19
face helps foster that. But there certainly is scenarios
19:22
where say for location or yeah, difficulties getting to the
19:27
office, we might do it via Zoom or Teams.
19:30
So we are starting off the conversation, getting them to
19:33
tell us about the background of the child and the current
19:36
presenting issues. That's where we're starting in
19:38
terms of that initial consultation.
19:40
We then move into a little bit more sorry of a deep dive into
19:46
that child's formative years. We know when we're working in
19:50
the playroom and this is how I'm caveating it to parents a little
19:54
bit. I'm deviating slightly, but
19:55
I'll, I'll come back when we are certainly working in that third
19:59
stage of play in the regressive stage.
20:02
We know that a lot of that content relates to those early
20:05
years experiences and more specifically those experiences
20:10
of those attachment relationships with primary
20:12
caregivers. So I always caveat it to parents
20:15
to say I, I, I'd love to. Go back a little bit in time, if
20:20
that's OK, to understand some things around your child in
20:25
terms of their first couple of years of life.
20:27
It really helps me in the playroom to understand what the
20:31
child's communicating. So as much information as you
20:34
can provide as possible would be great.
20:37
And so I'm wanting to acknowledge that going back to
20:42
that time may be potentially traumatic for the parent if they
20:46
had a traumatic birth, if they had a really difficult
20:49
pregnancy. So again, throughout my
20:51
questioning, I'm making sure that I'm communicating that
20:54
empathy, our core tenets of CCPT, so making sure we're tying
20:58
it all together as we progress. So I want to know about the
21:01
pregnancy. I want to know about the birth.
21:04
I want to know about that first year of life.
21:06
Did they meet their milestones? That's just the start of the
21:09
questions in that space. We go on that journey to have a
21:13
better understanding of those first couple of years so that we
21:17
can start to understand, OK, what does that attachment
21:19
relationship between my client and that primary caregiver look
21:23
like? What were they exposed to in
21:25
utero? And I, as I've said to you guys
21:29
before, I truly in the next couple of weeks, now that I've
21:32
got my studio, I might do an episode on the current research
21:38
of the impact of 2020 to 2022 on those babies who are now four to
21:44
six years of age as of this year and are progressing to school.
21:48
There is a whole conversation with that.
21:50
So I have that as a question in my intake when I'm talking about
21:55
that pregnancy and birth, if it is a child between right now
21:59
between the ages of four to six, I'm asking them what was those
22:03
years like? What was 2020 to 2022 like for
22:06
you and your family? Did anyone lose a job?
22:09
Was their financial stress? How did you guys navigate that?
22:12
Did your child go to daycare still?
22:15
Like what did that look like for you guys?
22:18
Because that's very important. That gives me really helpful
22:21
information around those first couple of years of life and what
22:25
that child experienced. That becomes part of their
22:29
unconscious programming of their relationships with others.
22:33
We know from Doctor Bruce Lipton's research on the
22:36
conscious and unconscious mind that this is critical, that
22:40
first five years of life of them downloading without
22:43
discrimination and understanding of relationships with others
22:47
through all of their experiences of those relationships and
22:50
interactions. So doing so without a philtre
22:52
and it becomes part of their programme.
22:54
So we really want to dive into that and understand and and
22:57
fully I guess kind of comprehend what happened.
23:00
Am I going to get absolutely every part of the story in that
23:03
first initial consultation? Absolutely not.
23:05
This is why this is a process and certainly, you know, we
23:10
could probably need at least a couple of hours, if not more
23:12
really to deep dive into some some of the families that we
23:16
work with and their family of origin history.
23:19
But we just simply often don't have the time.
23:21
So that's where those parent consult updates come in handy.
23:25
And I'm going to talk about that next after these initial
23:27
consults, because I often use that first parent consult update
23:32
to say, hey, we didn't get through absolutely everything
23:37
that I wanted to cover in our initial consultation.
23:40
Do you mind if I ask you a few more questions just so I can get
23:43
a really good sense of an understanding of the child's
23:45
history? So in a very collaborative,
23:49
yeah, empathetic, accepting way that we are potentially needing
23:54
to ask the follow up questions. And certainly from the
23:57
information we get in that initial consultation, sometimes
24:01
parents and they have many different reasons for why they
24:04
do this may not give us a true picture.
24:08
And then we start working with the child and the child tells us
24:11
in real time because and that's why I love working with kids
24:15
more than adults, not going to lie, because they don't have a
24:19
philtre in the way that adults do.
24:20
And so and often especially for on your divergent kids even more
24:25
so it it is very transparent what they are telling us.
24:29
And so we have this opportunity when we do that parent console
24:33
update to be able then to say, gosh, I'm just wondering and
24:38
then kind of tackle some of more of that information from those
24:41
formative views experiences. So we're going through a lot of
24:44
that and getting a really good sense.
24:47
I want to understand that relationship between mom and dad
24:50
or that family system. What did that look like during
24:53
that formative years? Was there a parental separation?
24:56
Was there drug and alcohol misuse?
24:58
Lots and lots of questions around what that family dynamic
25:01
looked like. What was their support system?
25:03
What was their network? I'm going to do an eco map and
25:06
I'm going to do a genogram and I really want to understand and
25:10
get a better sense of everyone involved with this child's life.
25:14
And again, am I going to get all the information in that initial
25:17
console? Probably not and that's OK.
25:20
We will build on that throughout our intervention and our work.
25:23
So we are going through all of that information before we then
25:28
move into tell me about how they went progressing to daycare or
25:32
school. I want to get a bit bit of an
25:34
understanding of once they got to a certain age, we've kind of
25:38
tackled those first couple of years.
25:40
What then did it look like when it was time for them to progress
25:43
to daycare or kindy or school, whatever you call it in your
25:47
part of the world. So I want to deep dive into
25:50
that. Again, for our families that we
25:53
are working with at the moment with a four to six year old,
25:56
that looks like separation anxiety.
26:00
So if you are working with a four to six year old now or
26:02
you're about to have a initial consultation with a four to six
26:05
year old, you can pretty much write that down before you meet
26:09
them. No, I'm just kidding.
26:10
You won't do that obviously, but don't be surprised if they
26:15
mention separation anxiety. So we, and this was actually
26:20
something I was talking to a supervisor the other day about
26:22
and really enjoyed the conversation that I had with her
26:26
about this because I think that what is happening for that
26:31
population. And again, guys, I've got to do
26:32
my own podcast episode on this, but what we're seeing in that
26:35
four to six age group is obviously a much higher than
26:40
expected presentation of anxiety and depression and separation
26:44
anxiety. The literature evidence is this.
26:47
So we are then meeting a population of parents who are
26:52
obviously really struggling, right, which is why they've come
26:55
to therapy and why they're meeting with you in this initial
26:57
intake. But I think there's also a
27:00
propensity for us to apply child development theory and I guess
27:05
age appropriate behaviours and expectations without
27:08
acknowledging that their formative years looked different
27:12
to what would be normal or typical.
27:15
So we can't then put an expectation on them at 5 or 6
27:20
that they should be able to transition to school
27:22
successfully when they have had these experiences in their
27:25
formative years. And so when we're using that
27:28
benchmark of, of child development, we need to have a
27:32
caveat around that to say this population looks different.
27:36
This population is not going to move and behave and progress in
27:40
the same way as somebody a four to six year old we might have
27:44
seen 10 years ago. So I'm, I'm making sure as I'm
27:48
asking these questions that I'm also providing that
27:50
psychoeducation along the way where I can because for some of
27:55
these parents, and I know for many of my parents where I have
27:59
broached the topic of 2020 to 22, excuse me, that is really
28:03
hard to say, 2020 to 2022. Yeah, I got it, that they've
28:08
never put the dots together themselves.
28:10
We lived in a world where we were just trying to survive and
28:14
function and get back to work. And so that moment of connection
28:19
where you see parents go, yeah, that was part of my experience,
28:23
too. That is very helpful for parents
28:28
obviously in building that rapport and connection with
28:31
them, but also helping to validate some of their feelings
28:34
and some of their struggles. So very much making sure that we
28:39
are checking in about that, asking how they've gone, if they
28:43
are in prep. So I'm saying I'm using
28:46
terminology guys from Australia and specifically Queensland when
28:49
I say this. So for our kids that have just
28:53
started school, they would be between 4 1/2 and 6 here in
28:56
Queensland. So that is our prep here.
28:59
So we're asking very much what that looks like and how they
29:02
have navigated that. OK, so then I want to move into
29:07
talking about the health of the child and getting a good sense
29:12
of their medical history. So I want to get an
29:15
understanding. Is there any diagnosis, has
29:18
there been any medical intervention in those formative
29:21
years? Has there been any diagnosis
29:24
that relate to my work one on one in the playroom?
29:28
So do they have epilepsy, for example?
29:31
And what is that plan in terms of supporting the child?
29:34
So I'm making sure that I clarify and have an
29:37
understanding of the medical background.
29:40
Has there been assessments for diagnosis such as autism, such
29:46
as ADHD or others? So getting a good sense of that
29:50
and if there is other professionals involved that are
29:53
supporting that child too, in terms of that medical
29:57
intervention is good to know. So then I'm making sure that
30:01
I've got a good understanding around the family of origin
30:03
history. We've obviously covered a lot in
30:06
those first few years of life of that pregnancy, birth and those
30:10
formative years and understanding the milestones
30:13
that they have achieved. But I also want to get a sense
30:15
of is there anything else of significance that's important to
30:20
mention here? And I ask again, because
30:23
sometimes it is one of those things where parents might be a
30:26
little bit reluctant, I guess, to kind of have those
30:29
conversations or we may not get that information in this initial
30:35
consult. And that's OK.
30:36
Sometimes as we progress in our therapy work and the child tells
30:41
us more about their story, we get a better sense of what might
30:44
have been part of those early years experiences.
30:47
And parents have good reason at times for why they may or may
30:50
not disclose that information. But I am prompting the parent a
30:53
little bit here to gauge. Has there been changes in
30:57
schools? Have they moved house?
30:59
Were they involved in a trauma incident like a car accident or
31:04
a natural disaster or anything that they can think of that they
31:09
want to mention? So I'm making sure that I've,
31:12
I've checked that off and then if the child is in prep, so
31:17
acknowledging that for some of our younger kiddies, they might
31:19
be just in daycare or once they've started school, I want
31:23
to understand what that experience has been like for
31:26
them both emotionally and academically.
31:28
So I want to understand, are they struggling at school?
31:33
Are they struggling to do their homework?
31:34
If they're a little bit older, they struggling with their
31:37
peers? Are they struggling with support
31:40
through the school? Are they being assessed for any
31:44
type of learning difficulty? So lots of questions there
31:47
around their experience of the education system, which is
31:52
really helpful as well. I want to confirm then, and I
31:56
find this particular question really important in this intake.
32:00
And again, I just want to acknowledge that everyone has
32:03
their approach to doing these initial consultations.
32:06
And I'm sure there is headings that I've not covered that you
32:09
use. So certainly when we post this
32:11
on our Instagram, please share, you know, is there other
32:16
headings or other areas that you tackle in your initial
32:18
consultation? Because I think also too, having
32:20
a framework for this around these headings or questions that
32:24
we want to ask also needs to recognise that we are doing a
32:30
person centred humanistic approach to connection and work
32:34
with families. So families, children in the
32:38
playroom and everything in between don't necessarily follow
32:42
the agenda. And so we acknowledge that we
32:45
have this scaffolding, I guess, for this initial conversation.
32:49
But if you find that some of those conversations go in
32:53
certain areas or topics that are useful and helpful for the
32:56
parent to discuss and unpack with us, we will obviously give
33:01
them that space to do so. But one of the things towards
33:04
the end of this form that I think is really important is
33:09
their experience or unpacking and understanding of their
33:12
experience of therapy. We know especially for us play
33:18
therapist in this space, that often the children that we are
33:21
engaged with have tried other therapies first and not had
33:25
success. So maybe they have tried talk
33:27
based therapies and it hasn't worked and they're looking for
33:30
an alternative. So I want to get a sense of have
33:33
they access support before? What's that previous history
33:37
like? What worked and what didn't
33:39
work? So did they feel included in
33:42
that process of therapy? What do they need in terms of
33:45
communication and updates from the therapist?
33:49
Because that gives me a really great launchpad to tell them and
33:52
explain, I guess my boundaries around communication with them,
33:57
updates with them, my support, and what that looks like in
34:01
terms of those. Weekly and my preference for
34:04
weekly play therapy sessions, Four to six week parent consult
34:07
updates, working with stakeholders, writing reports.
34:11
I can go through all of my services at that point to tell
34:13
them a little bit more about what I do.
34:16
But I also want to acknowledge in our Rogerian practise that
34:22
they are the experts and they know what works and what doesn't
34:26
work for them. And so I want to get a clear
34:28
sense of that so that I can make sure that their experience with
34:31
me is a +1. So I'm checking in about that
34:34
and then giving a nice segue into a little explainer around
34:39
child centre play therapy and what it's all about.
34:42
I then go into the goals of therapy, which is very
34:45
important. And again, I will do a separate
34:48
podcast on that because this episode is going to be so long
34:52
already because I've got still more to cover.
34:55
But we, in terms of that process, do the goals and then
34:59
offer the opportunity for parents to ask questions as
35:02
well. This is in a perfect world where
35:04
we feel, feel, go through and complete everything in that time
35:10
period, which doesn't usually happen.
35:12
You can imagine just from the questions we've covered so far,
35:15
it's a lot. It's a lot.
35:17
So and also too, I'm really mindful, as I said at the start
35:21
of this conversation, it's so important that we are investing
35:24
that time in establishing that safety and trust with the parent
35:28
or caregiver to build that relationship.
35:31
So we may only get through so much and maybe need to schedule
35:34
a further intake session if that's the case.
35:38
Or as I said, sometimes we use that first parent console update
35:41
as another opportunity. So after we have offered the
35:46
opportunity for parents to ask us questions and get a real
35:51
sense of what play therapy is all about, we make sure that we
35:55
then explore with them whether they would like to continue with
35:59
us. So it might be a situation where
36:01
they want to go away and have a think about it, and that's okay.
36:04
This is as much a process of connecting with the family, with
36:09
the parent or caregiver and ascertaining if play therapy
36:13
will be suitable for them as much as am I the right therapist
36:16
for you, am I the right therapist for your child?
36:19
And so that is a process of exploration for both parties and
36:24
important to recognise and honour that consent is voluntary
36:28
for our parents, certainly in private practise.
36:31
And so they have that right to decide.
36:33
So we are, if we're not booking in a play therapy session
36:39
straight after, in terms of making an appointment at the end
36:42
of that intake, we are offering the opportunity for parents to
36:46
get back in touch with us if they would like to book in that
36:49
play therapy session. So giving them that autonomy of
36:52
choice. So that is an initial
36:55
consultation, parent carer consultation.
36:58
As I said, there is lots of training out there in our
37:01
beautiful community around how to do an initial consultation.
37:04
So if you have a slightly different format, that's great
37:08
as well. That's great.
37:10
I think that we use the framework and the structure and
37:15
the scaffolding that works for us as the individual play
37:18
therapist. So this is simply suggestions to
37:21
add to your practise. So we are going to pause there
37:26
because we have so much content we want to cover for introducing
37:32
the topic and unpacking initial parent consultations and ongoing
37:36
parent consultations that we just couldn't fit it all into
37:40
one episode. So we've got A2 parter for you
37:43
guys. So thank you so much for
37:45
watching today. We have much, much more to cover
37:48
next week, so we will have a Part 2 of conducting parent
37:53
consultations, including initial and ongoing parent
37:56
consultations. So you will just have to stick
37:59
around next week to hear the second half of our conversation
38:02
on this. It is not the end either.
38:04
I know we'll do many more episodes in this space, but
38:07
thank you so much for listening. And please, please, please, as
38:11
always, check us out on the socials.
38:13
We're on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok at the Play Therapy
38:17
Circle Podcast, and you can also reach us now by email if you
38:21
want to suggest some ideas for future podcast topics.
38:25
We're always keen to hear from you.
38:27
So hello at playtherapycircle.com.
38:30
We would love to hear from you. So thank you so much for being
38:33
here. Please, please, please be kind
38:35
to yourselves and each other. And we will get back into this
38:39
next week for Part 2. See you then.
38:42
Bye. Thank you so much for being here
38:47
for another episode of The Playtherapy Circle.
38:50
If anything resonated with you today, I'd love it if you could
38:54
follow the podcast, share it with a colleague, or leave a
38:57
short review. It really helps others find our
39:00
circle. And if you have a topic or
39:02
question you'd love me to explore, I'd love to hear from
39:05
you. This space is for you and I
39:07
wanted to feel like a conversation.
39:10
Until next time, take care of yourself and remember you belong
39:15
here.