Latest / Next Level Play Therapy: A Podcast for Play Therapy Excellence / Is Individual Play Therapy Better Than Family Play Therapy?

Transcript

Is Individual Play Therapy Better Than Family Play Therapy? · Next Level Play Therapy: A Podcast for Play Therapy Excellence

• 0:02
  Cathi Spooner: Welcome to Next Level Play Therapy.
• 0:04
  Cathi Spooner: 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.
• 0:17
  Cathi Spooner: 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.
• 0:33
  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.
• 0:47
  Cathi Spooner: Welcome to this week's episode of Next Level Play Therapy, where we talk about all things play therapy.
• 0:56
  Cathi Spooner: And this week I wanna tackle a topic that I find comes up a lot because the natural default in the mental health field is individual counseling.
• 1:11
  Cathi Spooner: I kind of feel like that's because in university the main focus of that is usually clinical work with adults.
• 1:23
  Cathi Spooner: And so from an adult standpoint, most people just meet individually with the adults.
• 1:32
  Cathi Spooner: Unless you're a marriage and family therapist person, then you're probably just by default conceptualizing.
• 1:39
  Cathi Spooner: That adult within their marital relationship and possibly within their family relationships po quite possibly that intergenerational impact of attachment and attachment relationships and family dynamics and all of the things.
• 2:00
  Cathi Spooner: I would say for the most part though, most people conceptualize.
• 2:06
  Cathi Spooner: Counseling from an individual lens when you're working with children, that's still the same model that we use.
• 2:15
  Cathi Spooner: Most of the training that we get is focused on individual play therapy, and so today, well, let me finish that thought.
• 2:27
  Cathi Spooner: So, so most of the focus even in our training is focused on individual counseling, and yet.
• 2:35
  Cathi Spooner: Children are dependent on parents for staying alive basically for food, shelter, clothing, protection, caring for, I would say nurturing and love as well to, um, build resiliency and those family dynamics.
• 2:55
  Cathi Spooner: I think it's important to look at relationships with siblings as well.
• 3:02
  Cathi Spooner: So that's what we're gonna talk about today, which is better, is one better than the other because what I find happens is a lot of people in the play therapy world don't really conceptualize.
• 3:22
  Cathi Spooner: What treatment would look like if there was more than just the child in the session, or they add the parents, but they're still using an individual therapy mindset.
• 3:37
  Cathi Spooner: So is it really family play therapy or did you just add the parents in there and you're not really shifting your theoretical foundation a bit?
• 3:50
  Cathi Spooner: So that's what I want to talk about today is individual therapy better than family play therapy.
• 4:03
  Cathi Spooner: And so I wanna do a pros and cons, and what I would like to do is if you're watching live, or maybe you're watching the replay, or maybe you're listening on the podcast.
• 4:15
  Cathi Spooner: I'm thinking this might be useful for you to kind of workshop this a little bit, and what I mean by that is if you're in a place where you can write.
• 4:30
  Cathi Spooner: Um, or do a little journaling, then grab your paper and pencil or whatever it is.
• 4:37
  Cathi Spooner: Or markering crayons, because we're play therapists.
• 4:40
  Cathi Spooner: Um, I, I like to use colored, colored pen.
• 4:46
  Cathi Spooner: Just makes it more fun.
• 4:48
  Cathi Spooner: Um, anyway, so, um, and what I would say is.
• 4:53
  Cathi Spooner: Maybe think about as we go through the pros and cons today, maybe think, write those down for you.
• 5:00
  Cathi Spooner: What are the pros and cons and how are you conceptualizing your work with children and adolescents using play therapy?
• 5:14
  Cathi Spooner: So let's get started for today.
• 5:17
  Cathi Spooner: So today's focus is, is individual play therapy better than family play therapy.
• 5:26
  Cathi Spooner: So if you're watching live, I would love to know who's here.
• 5:30
  Cathi Spooner: Post in the comments, say hello.
• 5:33
  Cathi Spooner: Join the conversation.
• 5:36
  Cathi Spooner: Feel free to add pros and cons from your point of view and just, um.
• 5:42
  Cathi Spooner: I, I feel like, uh, more of our heads are better than the my one head.
• 5:47
  Cathi Spooner: That's usually what I say when it comes to consultation.
• 5:51
  Cathi Spooner: So feel free to join the conversation today.
• 5:56
  Cathi Spooner: Um, if you are listening on the replay, honestly feel free to post your name in the comments.
• 6:03
  Cathi Spooner: I would still love to connect post your thoughts.
• 6:07
  Cathi Spooner: Pros and cons questions, and if you're listening on the podcast, feel free to pop over to my Instagram channel, which is at Renewing Hearts Training.
• 6:20
  Cathi Spooner: Send me a message post on the comments because I do live stream simultaneously, uh, using Streamy Yard on LinkedIn and YouTube, but I also.
• 6:34
  Cathi Spooner: Livestream on Instagram, which is why you kind of see me looking back and forth between two cameras.
• 6:41
  Cathi Spooner: So feel free to add to the conversation in Instagram.
• 6:44
  Cathi Spooner: Pop over on, uh, my Instagram channel.
• 6:48
  Cathi Spooner: If you're listening to the podcast, which is Next level, play therapy or send me a message, I would love to have a conversation.
• 6:59
  Cathi Spooner: All righty, so let's get started.
• 7:02
  Cathi Spooner: First, what are the benefits of individual play therapy?
• 7:08
  Cathi Spooner: So if you're listening, write down some things that you think are in are the benefits of individual play therapy.
• 7:19
  Cathi Spooner: I'm gonna go through some myself, and you feel free to add to these.
• 7:24
  Cathi Spooner: So typically the benefit is that you get individualized focus on the child.
• 7:32
  Cathi Spooner: To help them overcome their difficulties, you've, you provide that free and protected space for the child to have an opportunity to work through using play therapy, whatever it is that's going on in their life that's causing them to be distressed.
• 7:51
  Cathi Spooner: I would say that's probably the main reason, number one reason.
• 7:58
  Cathi Spooner: For using individual play therapy session.
• 8:03
  Cathi Spooner: The other thing is more on a practical level, using individual play therapy is easier to manage'cause you only have to.
• 8:14
  Cathi Spooner: Um, you only have to deal with one person, so to speak, and you're, it's a child and they usually love being in there.
• 8:22
  Cathi Spooner: Not always, but every once in a while there are those ones that aren't.
• 8:26
  Cathi Spooner: But most of the time, I would say most kids and adolescents would.
• 8:32
  Cathi Spooner: Prefer having that individual.
• 8:33
  Cathi Spooner: Sometimes not, though.
• 8:35
  Cathi Spooner: Sometimes I find that isn't the case and they want family members in there.
• 8:39
  Cathi Spooner: But I would say for the most part, kids like having that opportunity where they can say what they want, do almost anything they wanna do.
• 8:48
  Cathi Spooner: And if there's anything you they can't do, you'll let them know.
• 8:51
  Cathi Spooner: That's my child-centered play therapy there.
• 8:54
  Cathi Spooner: Um.
• 8:56
  Cathi Spooner: And, and it's easier to manage'cause you only have one person in the room and um, and they're a child, so they usually like being in there.
• 9:09
  Cathi Spooner: And you don't usually have too much resistance.
• 9:14
  Cathi Spooner: Sometimes you do though.
• 9:17
  Cathi Spooner: And then, so here's the thing.
• 9:20
  Cathi Spooner: On how many times have you heard, I'm gonna try to say this in a way that doesn't sound judgmental, 'cause I don't mean it that way, but we all say it and I hear it a lot.
• 9:35
  Cathi Spooner: Not, not everybody says it and I hear it a lot, and so I just wanna have an honest conversation about.
• 9:48
  Cathi Spooner: Play therapy an individual versus family play therapy.
• 9:51
  Cathi Spooner: I, I actually heard this a few weeks ago just from a colleague, um, when I was talking about play therapy and working with children, and I hear this so many times and that is, I don't know if you guys might be able to guess it by now.
• 10:09
  Cathi Spooner: That is, I like working with kids.
• 10:13
  Cathi Spooner: I don't like working with parents.
• 10:17
  Cathi Spooner: And so a lot of times child and adolescent therapists, or not necessarily play therapists, but play therapists say this too.
• 10:27
  Cathi Spooner: I think a lot of times that's coming from a place of not really knowing how, um, how to engage parents and maybe being intimidated by parents.
• 10:40
  Cathi Spooner: Because you feel like you are not, they're judging you and you feel like you have to prove that you're doing a good job.
• 10:49
  Cathi Spooner: I've talked about this in other podcast episodes and other YouTube.
• 10:56
  Cathi Spooner: Uh, other live stream episodes.
• 10:58
  Cathi Spooner: So if you're watching on YouTube, you may wanna pop back through some of the replays.
• 11:04
  Cathi Spooner: There's a ton on my YouTube channel, which is Kathy Spooner Renewing Hearts.
• 11:09
  Cathi Spooner: And if you click on the live tab, you'll see where all the replays are.
• 11:14
  Cathi Spooner: But this, I think this has a lot to do with imposter syndrome that, um, you feel like you can easily.
• 11:23
  Cathi Spooner: Connect with the children, but you feel like you have to prove your worth or prove that play therapy's working and we put a lot of pressure on ourselves, but sometimes parents are, have some things that they're struggling with and they can be operating from a place of.
• 11:48
  Cathi Spooner: Being overwhelmed, scared, and feeling like you're judging them.
• 11:53
  Cathi Spooner: Um, you know, if we're gonna use a little IFS language, maybe it would say their firefighters got activated, or maybe you're having to interact with their protectors and it's creating some challenges.
• 12:10
  Cathi Spooner: I, I think as play the, I don't talk, I'll talk about this in.
• 12:18
  Cathi Spooner: Some of the benefits of family play therapy, but I think when it comes to working with parents and family members, I think a lot of times, because play therapists have only been trained.
• 12:34
  Cathi Spooner: To use individual play therapy.
• 12:38
  Cathi Spooner: I think the thought of having more people in the session can feel really intimidating and overwhelming, and to some extent I think that concern is really valid in the sense of you really need to have training specific to how to do it otherwise.
• 12:57
  Cathi Spooner: It doesn't always go so well.
• 12:59
  Cathi Spooner: And even when you have training and you have a framework, it can be challenging sometimes.
• 13:06
  Cathi Spooner: So I, I think what happens is one of the benefits of individual play therapy for play therapists is because they don't really feel comfortable working with parents or they don't really know how.
• 13:20
  Cathi Spooner: To integrate parents in there, then the benefit would be then you don't have to be out of your comfort zone.
• 13:29
  Cathi Spooner: I feel like that could be a pro or a con, a benefit or a drawback, but I'm gonna put it there as my transition to the drawbacks.
• 13:40
  Cathi Spooner: So some of the drawbacks of individual play therapy would be, so again, right as you're kind of watching, we're kind of workshopping this a little bit.
• 13:52
  Cathi Spooner: Pros and cons, because this really comes down to your clinical decision making process.
• 13:58
  Cathi Spooner: You are.
• 13:59
  Cathi Spooner: You are conceptualizing what is going on with your clients.
• 14:04
  Cathi Spooner: So what are the roots of the problem?
• 14:05
  Cathi Spooner: It's gonna be influenced by your play therapy theoretical framework to make sense of what's going on.
• 14:12
  Cathi Spooner: And then your framework, your play therapy framework, is gonna influence what you do.
• 14:18
  Cathi Spooner: How do you address it?
• 14:21
  Cathi Spooner: And so what we're doing is we're going through the pros and cons.
• 14:26
  Cathi Spooner: The benefits and drawbacks of in diverse individual play therapy versus family play therapy.
• 14:34
  Cathi Spooner: So you can kind of figure out what, what would make the most sense clinically for your client to help them make the progress that they need to make.
• 14:45
  Cathi Spooner: And so some of the drawbacks then in your, some things to think about for the drawbacks for individual play therapy.
• 14:56
  Cathi Spooner: Would be that you really aren't able to observe in real time.
• 15:01
  Cathi Spooner: What are the interaction patterns going on for your client within their family system?
• 15:08
  Cathi Spooner: You don't know if some of maybe the dynamic between parent and child or maybe the dynamics within the family system, you don't know how much of those are actually.
• 15:24
  Cathi Spooner: Clinically contributing to the problem the child is experiencing.
• 15:30
  Cathi Spooner: If you don't really see it, because you're having to rely on what parents understand and how parents are trying to make sense of it and their observations, they don't know.
• 15:46
  Cathi Spooner: They don't always know.
• 15:47
  Cathi Spooner: Sometimes they know.
• 15:49
  Cathi Spooner: I've met with some really insightful parents.
• 15:52
  Cathi Spooner: Who are definitely attuned with their kids and their really good sources of information.
• 16:00
  Cathi Spooner: And then other parents who struggle with that.
• 16:04
  Cathi Spooner: And here's the other thing, who of us really fully understands what's going on?
• 16:13
  Cathi Spooner: Right?
• 16:13
  Cathi Spooner: That's.
• 16:14
  Cathi Spooner: That's why we go to counseling to get some feedback and support from somebody 'cause we can't see everything or it'll take longer.
• 16:24
  Cathi Spooner: Um, or, you know, sometimes we're having conversations with family members.
• 16:28
  Cathi Spooner: I can't tell you how many times this has happened to me in my family.
• 16:32
  Cathi Spooner: We're kind of working through an issue, and I think I'm right about it, only to find out, through having a conversation, there's a whole other way, different way of looking at it.
• 16:43
  Cathi Spooner: And I have to stop and think for a moment.
• 16:46
  Cathi Spooner: Like, oh, okay.
• 16:47
  Cathi Spooner: Right.
• 16:48
  Cathi Spooner: So how, how many of us really fully understand.
• 16:53
  Cathi Spooner: So that's one of the drawbacks is you don't really get to see for yourself from a neutral place observing the interactions and the di that are going on to make sense of what are the strengths as well as maybe some of the challenges that family members are facing.
• 17:15
  Cathi Spooner: So that's one thing you wanna think about if you're deciding.
• 17:19
  Cathi Spooner: Individual versus family.
• 17:23
  Cathi Spooner: The other drawback is you're only gonna meet with the child hopefully once a week.
• 17:30
  Cathi Spooner: Sometimes I know play therapist or child and adolescent therapist will meet with the child every other week if that.
• 17:38
  Cathi Spooner: Every other week, in my opinion is not ideal.
• 17:41
  Cathi Spooner: It takes longer.
• 17:42
  Cathi Spooner: It slows the process down sometimes.
• 17:46
  Cathi Spooner: It's the least worst option.
• 17:50
  Cathi Spooner: Ideally, individual therapy sessions are gonna optimize the progress that you can make with children.
• 18:01
  Cathi Spooner: So you're, so you're meeting with the kids once a week, ideally, and then you're meeting with parents whenever you're able to get them scheduled or?
• 18:15
  Cathi Spooner: Uh, maybe you're not even meeting with parents.
• 18:18
  Cathi Spooner: The thing about individual play therapy is what ends up happening.
• 18:24
  Cathi Spooner: You're getting, you're having to schedule an extra session in your calendar and maybe your calendar's full.
• 18:34
  Cathi Spooner: I don't find that one's too big of a deal, however it is, especially in some settings where you have to have really high, I've heard some caseload sizes when they're working with kids and I'm thinking, well, I usually say it outside my head, but I'm like, oh my gosh, that is gonna be hard to manage.
• 18:56
  Cathi Spooner: That's like a. Individual, the adult therapist caseload, that's not really a child and adolescent therapist caseload.
• 19:05
  Cathi Spooner: That's a whole other, that's a whole other topic for discussion, but something having another session to schedule with parents can create some challenges.
• 19:17
  Cathi Spooner: The other drawback is because parents aren't in the session.
• 19:23
  Cathi Spooner: You meet with them periodically, maybe, or you just do the five minute air quotes, five minute check in at the end of the session, or maybe at the beginning.
• 19:34
  Cathi Spooner: It's never five minutes and it's usually in front of the child.
• 19:39
  Cathi Spooner: Um, you end up getting a lot of phone calls, texts, and emails about.
• 19:48
  Cathi Spooner: Not your whole caseload, but you usually have those ones that are struggling, a handful enough that you're getting a bunch of phone calls, texts, and emails in between the therapy sessions, telling you all the things that are going wrong and why things aren't working.
• 20:05
  Cathi Spooner: So you're spending a lot of time responding to those.
• 20:11
  Cathi Spooner: So that can be some of the drawbacks of doing individual only.
• 20:16
  Cathi Spooner: Play therapy sessions.
• 20:18
  Cathi Spooner: So what are the benefits then of doing family play therapy sessions?
• 20:26
  Cathi Spooner: So to me, one of the biggest benefit of using family play therapy is that you are able to see in real time what are the dynamics going on.
• 20:41
  Cathi Spooner: You, you.
• 20:42
  Cathi Spooner: And then based on your training and experience and your knowledge, you can assess what those dynamics are.
• 20:53
  Cathi Spooner: You can assess the strengths of the family.
• 20:56
  Cathi Spooner: You can, you can assess where their struggling, and that might be where you wanna focus on facilitating change, while you're also reinforcing those strengths.
• 21:08
  Cathi Spooner: But you can see in real time, and you don't have to rely on secondhand information.
• 21:14
  Cathi Spooner: You've got that information to add it to, excuse me, your case conceptualization, to get a sense of what's going on.
• 21:23
  Cathi Spooner: Excuse me, what's going on for your client that's contributing to the problem, and what are the patterns that are sustaining it in the sessions?
• 21:37
  Cathi Spooner: And then the other thing is you can help parents in the sessions in real time, use some attachment based parenting strategies in the session that they can practice with you, with your support in the session where you're modeling and they're practicing, and then you're giving feedback about what's going well and some ideas for what to do.
• 22:06
  Cathi Spooner: Then they can take that information and practice it outside of the session in the child's everyday life.
• 22:16
  Cathi Spooner: They can take what is happening in the sessions parents and implement that in the day to day living.
• 22:27
  Cathi Spooner: What do you think is gonna have more impact once a week or.
• 22:32
  Cathi Spooner: Having the parent be able to apply every single day throughout the day, and who is it that's gonna be around after their child is not coming to plate therapy anymore?
• 22:51
  Cathi Spooner: Parents and family members, you are, you're not gonna be there.
• 22:57
  Cathi Spooner: They're gonna be there.
• 22:58
  Cathi Spooner: So what the benefit of Family Play Therapy is that you are helping family members in real time to create new ways of doing things, and you're strengthening the things that are really going well for them, and they can use that in their everyday life.
• 23:20
  Cathi Spooner: Long after you are, they're not working with you anymore.
• 23:27
  Cathi Spooner: I always say you have the ability when you're using family play therapy to create generational shifts.
• 23:36
  Cathi Spooner: I see this happen all the time when I'm working with families that have generational histories of trauma attachment, attachment issues, um, poverty.
• 23:51
  Cathi Spooner: All the things.
• 23:53
  Cathi Spooner: And you have a parent who desperately wants to change the cycle and they're so motivated and they are working hard to overcome.
• 24:03
  Cathi Spooner: Or maybe you have a parent and they don't even know that is what's going on, and you build that rapport with them and help them understand, and now they really wanna be part of the change process.
• 24:15
  Cathi Spooner: You are shifting, you are helping to shift when you integrate parents, and I would even say siblings into the sessions, you are shifting whole family systems, changing generational patterns that have long lasting impact.
• 24:38
  Cathi Spooner: That's huge in my opinion.
• 24:41
  Cathi Spooner: And parents are the ones who are gonna be around.
• 24:45
  Cathi Spooner: So the benefit of family play therapy is that you get to support parents.
• 24:55
  Cathi Spooner: To be that therapeutic agent of change for their child and create long lasting change because they are actually in the session doing the work with you.
• 25:10
  Cathi Spooner: To me, that's one of the biggest, biggest benefits.
• 25:15
  Cathi Spooner: Those two, those two things are the biggest benefits.
• 25:18
  Cathi Spooner: So what are some of the drawbacks of family play therapy?
• 25:23
  Cathi Spooner: Some of the drawbacks are that there's a lot of people in this session sometimes to manage.
• 25:32
  Cathi Spooner: It can be scary and it can be overwhelming, and it can be terrifying, which explains when I in Play Therapy Academy, play Therapy Academy and El Play Therapy, elevation Circle are my two.
• 25:46
  Cathi Spooner: Consultation memberships are a little bit different.
• 25:49
  Cathi Spooner: Play Therapy Academy is my online.
• 25:53
  Cathi Spooner: Consultation program for, typically for people who are pursuing their RPT credential, but not everybody in Plate Therapy Academy is pursuing their RPT credential.
• 26:05
  Cathi Spooner: What they really want is a lot of hands-on support.
• 26:10
  Cathi Spooner: Um, so we meet twice a month.
• 26:13
  Cathi Spooner: We staff cases every time.
• 26:15
  Cathi Spooner: There's a whole schedule of when you're presenting.
• 26:20
  Cathi Spooner: What you're gonna be, um, like the format for your presentation so that we can get down, down into providing support and, and Elevation Circle is we do consultation as well.
• 26:34
  Cathi Spooner: We do a book club, but it's really focused on connecting.
• 26:39
  Cathi Spooner: Play therapists with each other and getting support as well as doing the consultation and the book club to increase knowledge and skills as well.
• 26:50
  Cathi Spooner: It's just a different focus and it doesn't meet the uh, RRPT credential requirements for the Association for Play Therapy.
• 27:00
  Cathi Spooner: That would be Play Therapy Academy.
• 27:02
  Cathi Spooner: But one of the things that we talk about all the time is how overwhelming it is.
• 27:07
  Cathi Spooner: 'cause usually when I suggest.
• 27:10
  Cathi Spooner: To people who are new to me, um, hey, you know, that would be good to a family play therapy session.
• 27:16
  Cathi Spooner: Usually the look on their face is what?
• 27:18
  Cathi Spooner: That sounds scary and overwhelming and.
• 27:23
  Cathi Spooner: Um, it does have the potential to be scary and overwhelming because there are a lot of different personalities in there.
• 27:30
  Cathi Spooner: What do you do if somebody has a tantrum?
• 27:33
  Cathi Spooner: How do you handle that?
• 27:35
  Cathi Spooner: Because fundamentally your theoretical mindset is much different.
• 27:43
  Cathi Spooner: Than individual play therapy.
• 27:46
  Cathi Spooner: So family play therapy and attachment focused family play therapy is a theoretical foundational shift in the way in which you're conceptualizing what's going on, why it's happening, and what are you gonna do.
• 28:02
  Cathi Spooner: And in a family play therapy session, you have, you can have, like, I've had the whole family in there.
• 28:11
  Cathi Spooner: Um.
• 28:13
  Cathi Spooner: And that you can have a lot of different personalities in there that you're managing and you're having to figure out therapeutically what is that gonna look like in terms of what are we gonna be doing and the interventions and my role and parents' role, all of those things.
• 28:30
  Cathi Spooner: The other thing, the other drawback is sometimes parents aren't able to be in the sessions.
• 28:39
  Cathi Spooner: Um.
• 28:40
  Cathi Spooner: Sometimes you're working with children from a divorced family system, and maybe they have contact with one parent and they don't have contact with another parent.
• 28:51
  Cathi Spooner: Or maybe, um, there's a, there's a parent who struggles with addiction or maybe there are children in foster care and they're not able to have their parents participate for a variety of reasons.
• 29:09
  Cathi Spooner: You can have foster care parents participate if it's, if it's, um, something that the foster care worker is agreeing to because they're the, they're the legal guardian typically, and they have, they know what needs to they accomplished from a reunification standpoint.
• 29:28
  Cathi Spooner: So you, you really work pretty closely, I think, with foster care workers so that you're working towards the same goal.
• 29:37
  Cathi Spooner: But maybe there's a history of abuse or trauma and the It's not safe yet.
• 29:46
  Cathi Spooner: Doesn't mean it won't ever be safe.
• 29:47
  Cathi Spooner: Sometimes it won't, but sometimes there's a whole healing process that can take place, and maybe it's not time for that person to be in the session, or maybe they're not able to be in the session.
• 30:02
  Cathi Spooner: Maybe they're in jail.
• 30:04
  Cathi Spooner: Um, so that, that might be, you may not include some of these people, or it might be a drawback.
• 30:12
  Cathi Spooner: Some of these things might be drawbacks.
• 30:15
  Cathi Spooner: For using family play therapy there, there's a lot of different temperaments that you have to manage and possibly, most likely, typically different developmental stages and, um, abilities.
• 30:31
  Cathi Spooner: So you're having to figure out what you're gonna do about that.
• 30:38
  Cathi Spooner: Um.
• 30:40
  Cathi Spooner: So these are some of the things that you need to think about.
• 30:46
  Cathi Spooner: And I would say one of the drawbacks would be if you don't have a strategic family play therapy model that you're using, then it probably isn't gonna go well.
• 31:01
  Cathi Spooner: You really need to be trained to use.
• 31:05
  Cathi Spooner: Uh, a family play therapy model, either like a, an attachment based, where you're using parent child in the session together or maybe, uh, an a family play therapy model that you're using, because fundamentally it's a shift in your clinical mindset about roles and responsibilities.
• 31:29
  Cathi Spooner: So you really wanna be trained.
• 31:32
  Cathi Spooner: To use a, a, a, a specific model.
• 31:38
  Cathi Spooner: So can the answer be both?
• 31:43
  Cathi Spooner: Can you do both?
• 31:44
  Cathi Spooner: I would say yes.
• 31:45
  Cathi Spooner: I typically use both.
• 31:47
  Cathi Spooner: I typically will start off with individual play therapy and meeting with the parents separately.
• 31:55
  Cathi Spooner: In the beginning, that gives me a chance to get a better sense of what's going on.
• 32:00
  Cathi Spooner: I tell parents though, from the beginning, from that very first phone call where they contact me and from that diagnostic intake appointment, I tell them at some point.
• 32:12
  Cathi Spooner: We are most likely going to be using a family play therapy approach, and we'll figure out what that's gonna look like.
• 32:19
  Cathi Spooner: I tell them from the get go that they are active participants, that they are critical to the success of the treatment outcomes.
• 32:28
  Cathi Spooner: They're important.
• 32:30
  Cathi Spooner: I say all of that from the very beginning.
• 32:34
  Cathi Spooner: So I set the stage and then I will explain how plate therapy is, is gonna work.
• 32:40
  Cathi Spooner: The way that I do it.
• 32:44
  Cathi Spooner: So there you go.
• 32:45
  Cathi Spooner: So that, those are the, the pros and cons, so to speak, of individual versus family play therapy, the benefits and drawbacks of both.
• 32:57
  Cathi Spooner: I think it's really important for you to think about some of these things when you are.
• 33:04
  Cathi Spooner: Making decisions about the treatment approach.
• 33:09
  Cathi Spooner: What are you gonna be doing in sessions and what is play therapy actually gonna look like in the way in which you provide play therapy?
• 33:18
  Cathi Spooner: So let's do a quick recap.
• 33:21
  Cathi Spooner: We are looking at is the topic for today is, is individual play therapy better than family play therapy?
• 33:30
  Cathi Spooner: There are benefits and drawbacks to both.
• 33:33
  Cathi Spooner: Individual fam, individual play therapy and family play therapy, and it's important for you to use your clinical decision making based on the theoretical model that you're using and you've had training.
• 33:51
  Cathi Spooner: And I would say consultation and peer support is what takes those, that training information to know how to apply it.
• 33:59
  Cathi Spooner: Um, I, I feel like it's hard for us to do this alone, in theory alone, just not get the successful outcomes that we need.
• 34:08
  Cathi Spooner: We've gotta be able to apply it.
• 34:10
  Cathi Spooner: And then how do you apply it is where the rubber hits the road.
• 34:15
  Cathi Spooner: And so that's where I, I feel like we support, which is why I created Elevation Circle and Play Therapy Academy.
• 34:23
  Cathi Spooner: Plus I do trainings as well.
• 34:24
  Cathi Spooner: And I'm gonna talk a little bit about some training trainings that I have coming up.
• 34:28
  Cathi Spooner: If you're interested and you would like some more training, um, I do think it's important to figure out.
• 34:39
  Cathi Spooner: What you're gonna be doing using the pros and cons and what makes the same most sense for your client.
• 34:46
  Cathi Spooner: Each specific client based on your, your case conceptualization of what's going on and why is it happening and what patterns are supporting it.
• 34:56
  Cathi Spooner: And then also I, I, I think we can use both.
• 35:01
  Cathi Spooner: I think we, oh, I, I think it's possible.
• 35:06
  Cathi Spooner: Um, I think some people really prefer using family play therapy right from the beginning.
• 35:13
  Cathi Spooner: I don't think a lot of people are doing that.
• 35:16
  Cathi Spooner: I think most people are just using most play therapists and child and adolescent therapists are just using.
• 35:23
  Cathi Spooner: Individual play therapy and then kind of adding the parent in here and there.
• 35:28
  Cathi Spooner: I, I find using both to be very beneficial.
• 35:33
  Cathi Spooner: Like I usually start out with individual play therapy and then working separately with the parent.
• 35:40
  Cathi Spooner: That way I'm building rapport with both of 'em and getting a sense, uh, building trust and getting a sense of what's going on and where we need to.
• 35:49
  Cathi Spooner: To focus on what we need to do because case conceptualization is ongoing.
• 35:55
  Cathi Spooner: We're con, we have our initial case conceptualization and then we adjust as we go through the treatment process.
• 36:03
  Cathi Spooner: So I think adding family play therapy into the treatment process is a game changer.
• 36:10
  Cathi Spooner: I use it all the time.
• 36:14
  Cathi Spooner: So that is it for today.
• 36:17
  Cathi Spooner: Oh, the, sorry, I forgot my last point, which is if you're gonna be using family play therapy, then I really think it's important to get trained in a family play therapy model because family play therapy is not individual play therapy plus one or plus two.
• 36:35
  Cathi Spooner: It's not using an individual play therapy model and then just.
• 36:40
  Cathi Spooner: Kind of adding parents in there.
• 36:42
  Cathi Spooner: I mean, you can do that if you're just bringing parents in for parent coaching so that they, you know, like maybe the last 15 minutes of the session just to go over, here's what we did today.
• 36:52
  Cathi Spooner: Here are the skills, here's what you know, that's gonna look like practicing.
• 36:56
  Cathi Spooner: Here's how parents can help, that kind of thing.
• 36:58
  Cathi Spooner: But if you're, if you wanna make a fundamental shift within the family system that's gonna promote.
• 37:06
  Cathi Spooner: Long-term resiliency and positive treatment outcomes for your client.
• 37:12
  Cathi Spooner: Then thinking about them systemically within the context of the most important relationships they have, which is their family.
• 37:22
  Cathi Spooner: Then I think family play therapy can be a game changer.
• 37:27
  Cathi Spooner: You, you need to be trained in it though, because there are some fundamental shifts for that.
• 37:33
  Cathi Spooner: Which brings me to, if you're interested in getting some training, I do have a training coming up on my attachment focused family play therapy model that's coming up in November.
• 37:49
  Cathi Spooner: So in this, I'm, I'm really gonna go over kind of the neuroscience and attachment.
• 37:55
  Cathi Spooner: Focus of thinking about the child from that lens and what that looks like from a family systems point of what are you doing in the sessions?
• 38:05
  Cathi Spooner: How are you conceptualizing and thinking about it?
• 38:09
  Cathi Spooner: So that, and then what are the stages?
• 38:12
  Cathi Spooner: How do you, what's your role?
• 38:13
  Cathi Spooner: That's really important to know.
• 38:15
  Cathi Spooner: What is your role.
• 38:16
  Cathi Spooner: It's gonna be a little different than an individual.
• 38:21
  Cathi Spooner: Play therapy sessions.
• 38:22
  Cathi Spooner: Your role and parents' role are a little different in family play therapy sessions.
• 38:29
  Cathi Spooner: So I'll go over each, I'll go over the roles and what that looks like in each stage of the attachment focused family play therapy model.
• 38:39
  Cathi Spooner: And then how are you choosing your interventions, because that's usually what moves the needle for play therapists to figure out.
• 38:49
  Cathi Spooner: How do I do this and how do I do it effectively and how do I do it in a way that really makes a difference for my clients to get the healing that they're looking for?
• 39:01
  Cathi Spooner: And so that's.
• 39:03
  Cathi Spooner: That's the training that I have coming up on Saturday, November 8th.
• 39:08
  Cathi Spooner: You can do it in person or virtual.
• 39:12
  Cathi Spooner: There's two options available, so if you're, if you're in the, if you want to take a visit to Beautiful St. George, Utah, or maybe you're in the area.
• 39:24
  Cathi Spooner: And maybe you need some in-person play therapy training hours, then I would highly recommend this would be a training that would help you move the needle in that way.
• 39:35
  Cathi Spooner: If you, if you're, you know, you wanna take it virtually, there is a virtual training option, so you are gonna wanna hop over to my website at rh play therapy training.com.
• 39:49
  Cathi Spooner: Click on the training page and then you'll see attachment focused family play therapy.
• 39:55
  Cathi Spooner: And then you'll pick which, which option you, if you want the in-person or if you want the virtual option.
• 40:03
  Cathi Spooner: I also have an in-person San Tray training coming up in December, which, um, that is using a neuroscience and attachment lens in.
• 40:15
  Cathi Spooner: Sorry.
• 40:16
  Cathi Spooner: Using a neuroscience and attachment lens with play with Sant tray in play therapy.
• 40:21
  Cathi Spooner: My mouth is not working right now using a neuroscience and attachment lens with Sant tray in play therapy.
• 40:29
  Cathi Spooner: That's a two day really immersive, very small.
• 40:34
  Cathi Spooner: I do a maximum of 12.
• 40:37
  Cathi Spooner: That like, that's for me, that's like.
• 40:41
  Cathi Spooner: Most, usually it's like eight to 10, but I'll, I'll take up to 12 max.
• 40:47
  Cathi Spooner: Um, we do a lot of making sand trays and processing sand trays and learning what to look for using a neuroscience and attachment lens.
• 40:57
  Cathi Spooner: What does that look like to explore those implicit experiences and use the sand tray process to.
• 41:07
  Cathi Spooner: To facilitate some changes in that way.
• 41:11
  Cathi Spooner: That one's really small.
• 41:12
  Cathi Spooner: It's in person only.
• 41:14
  Cathi Spooner: I like when I do sanctuary trainings.
• 41:16
  Cathi Spooner: I like having people get their hands.
• 41:19
  Cathi Spooner: In the sand, the sensory experience and is so powerful that I like play therapists to experience that for themselves.
• 41:27
  Cathi Spooner: So if you're interested in that training, you have plenty of time to make those plane reservations and hotel reservations, or if you're local to sign.
• 41:38
  Cathi Spooner: Um, space is very, very limited for that one.
• 41:42
  Cathi Spooner: And then for those of you who are looking for support, I actually have openings I have right now.
• 41:49
  Cathi Spooner: I have one opening.
• 41:50
  Cathi Spooner: I might have two openings in Play Therapy Academy.
• 41:55
  Cathi Spooner: That's my hands on consultation program.
• 41:59
  Cathi Spooner: Um, so if you're interested in that one, then hop over to my website at rh play therapy training.com.
• 42:07
  Cathi Spooner: Go on the consultation page for Plate Therapy Academy.
• 42:11
  Cathi Spooner: If you're interested in Elevation Circle, um, straight enrollment isn't open just yet.
• 42:18
  Cathi Spooner: It's gonna be opening up.
• 42:19
  Cathi Spooner: So if you want to get on the wait list for that, then pop over to my website.
• 42:25
  Cathi Spooner: There's tons of stuff over there.
• 42:27
  Cathi Spooner: And I will see you next time.
• 42:30
  Cathi Spooner: Oh, I forgot all.
• 42:31
  Cathi Spooner: We're putting all of these links in the comments.
• 42:36
  Cathi Spooner: Feel free to reach out to me and send me a message if you have questions.
• 42:40
  Cathi Spooner: Alrighty, see you next week.
• 42:42
  Cathi Spooner: Bye for now.
• 42:46
  Cathi Spooner: Thank you for joining me on this episode of Next Level Play Therapy.
• 42:50
  Cathi Spooner: I hope you found the discussion valuable and gain new insights and ideas to support your work helping children, adolescents, and families heal.
• 42:59
  Cathi Spooner: If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe to the podcast and leave a review.
• 43:05
  Cathi Spooner: Your feedback helps to improve and reach more people who can benefit from this information.
• 43:11
  Cathi Spooner: Remember, play therapy is a powerful tool for healing and growth.
• 43:15
  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 in relationships.
• 43:27
  Cathi Spooner: If you have any questions or topics, suggestions for future episodes, I'd love to hear from you.
• 43:34
  Cathi Spooner: Connect with me on social media.
• 43:36
  Cathi Spooner: And visit my website at Renewing Hearts Play Therapy Training to stay updated on upcoming episodes, trainings, and resources.
• 43:46
  Cathi Spooner: Thank you once again for listening to Next Level Play Therapy.
• 43:50
  Cathi Spooner: Until next time, keep playing, learning and growing.