Playing at School

In October I attended the Association for Play Therapy conference in Atlanta. I love play therapy and believe it is a powerful tool for elementary school counselors to use in responsive services. Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT) was the approach I learned in graduate school and that I practice from. I often used play therapy as an individual counseling modality with students, and I used group play therapy when conducting social skills groups with K-1st graders. I've heard from other school counselors that having the time, space, or training to use play therapy make it challenging for them to implement. I also believe one of the blocks to using play therapy in the schools is a misunderstanding from other educators of what it is and why it works. In my experience, the idea of letting a child (who was often getting in trouble in the classroom) come to play with me was difficult for other educators to grasp! But I have experienced the power of therapeutic play for children and want other school counselors to use this approach as well.

Here is some of the information that I shared at my poster presentation at the APT conference that offers research and evidence-based support for using play therapy in school settings.

Play Therapy Improves Social Functioning:

• CCPT helps children develop behaviors that benefit self and others
• Evidence of changes in self-esteem, self-concept, and self-control after CCPT
• Evidence of differences in externalizing problems (aggressive, hyperactive, or rule-breaking behaviors) for children who do and do not participate in play therapy (e.g. Flahive & Ray, 2007; Ray, Armstrong, Balkin & Jayne, 2015; Post, 1999;)
• Changes in social functioning and behaviors after play therapy for children with disabilities (autism, ADHD, developmental disabilities, intellectual disabilities)

Play Therapy Improves Academic Functioning:

• Studies linking participation in CCPT with academic achievement for at-risk children (e.g. Blanco & Ray, 2011; Blanco, Ray, & Holliman, 2012)  
• Academic functioning may be improved through increased self-confidence and coping skills as well as increases in intrinsic motivation from CCPT

Implications for School Play Therapists:

• Build awareness of benefits and uses of play therapy for teachers, administrators, and stakeholders
• Provide Child Teacher Relationship Training to help teachers understand needs of students and respond to behavior problems
• Collaborate with special education teachers and staff for play interventions serving students with disabilities

“Play therapy, therefore, is an adjunct to the learning environment, an experience that helps children maximize opportunities to learn in the classroom” (Landreth, 2012, p. 86)

This link connects to my list of references for the presentation and further information about using play therapy in school settings.  

Adolescent Grief Resources

This past weekend I had the opportunity to spent two days with middle and high school teens at a children's bereavement camp. I served as a clinical group leader and planned activities and facilitated group sessions in the midst of ropes courses and arts and rappelling. It was a powerful weekend for seeing the resiliency and courage of kids who have experienced a significant death loss. In my planning, I found several resources to share with school counselors. 

Safe Crossing's Children's Grief Program has a guide specifically for school counselors that has been a go-to resource for me since finding it online years ago. This link takes you to the guide. 

The Behavioral & Emotional Grief Response Card Sort (pages 8-10 in the guide above) is a powerful activity that I have used in elementary settings with students 4th grade and up. I have students sort thoughts/feelings/behaviors they have and have not experienced since the death loss. For group processing with middle or high schoolers, pass cards around the group and have students make a dot on each card that matches their personal experience. Then ask students to share which cards have the most dots. Questions for processing this activity can include: 

• Which cards have the most dots? (For the “just want to die too” card, be sure to talk about this and steps they need to take if considering acting on this pain or wish to be with the person)
• What do you do when you feel that way? 
• What was surprising about the list of feelings or behaviors?
• What was it like seeing so many dots on these cards?
• Who in your life understands these feelings and thoughts? who are you talking about this with?

Another activity that can be used for individual or group processing is Skittles & Grief. I found a list of sentence stems on Pinterest and adapted them into this activity. Pass out Skittles fun packs and a half sheet of this handout. If using it in a group, have members get with a partner and share responses based on at least 3 skittles colors they pull out of the pack. Ask students to elaborate on their response or model partners asking for more details.

An art activity that can be used for individual or group counseling is altered books (also called art journals). I found hardback books at Goodwill that were appropriate for use with teens and had supplies (glue sticks, paper for collaging, and gesso and paint brushes for washing out words) to have group members begin their journal for their own story. This link gives some helpful hints on creating altered books. I also found guides on youtube and pinterest that were helpful in my planning. 

This guidebook has great information for caregivers on developmental grief responses and resources for supporting children and adolescents as they grieve. 

Have other favorite activities or resources that have worked well with adolescents? Share them in the comments!