Play Therapy Across the Lifespan

Play therapy friends, you are so valuable to your clients and the profession. You listen, you care, and you believe in the relationship. This episode in our summer series celebrates your importance. 

In this summer series, Dr. Denis' offers encouragement to play therapy practitioners. Have you been too serious lately? This episode is a reminder that you are fun!

In this summer series, Dr. Denis' offers encouragement to play therapy practitioners. With Telehealth, abrupt endings, social unrest, exhaustion, you may be feeling like you are not good enough. But, you are enough!

This episode is an invitation for you play therapists to take care of yourselves.

Links from the Show:

Introduction to Play Therapy Workshop

Register at www.lipscomb.edu/playtherapy

 40 continuing education hours: we are an APT approved provider  and these are direct contact hours in four 10-hour days. Cost is $750.

 July 15-18 with Dr. Kasie Lee

July 22-25, with Dr. Denis’ Thomas

Books

Creative Play Therapy with Adolescents and Adults: Moving from Helping to Healing
by Drs. Denis' Thomas and Melanie Morris

How To Create a Wellness Plan That Works
by Dr. Denis' Thomas

Sacred Rest
by Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith

In this episode, Dr. Denis’ gives you lots of ideas for incorporating writing into your therapy work and interviews Teresa Prendes-Walls. You’ll also hear an inspiring research segment from Rachel.

Find the show notes and Transcripts here.

In this episode, Dr. Denis talks about using digital and print photography in counseling. She also interviews Niamh Rawlins.

In this episode, Dr. Denis delves into sand therapy. Sand therapy can help clients explore subconscious themes, process difficult emotions, ground themselves, and communicate in powerful, non-verbal ways. Dr. Denis offers suggestions for types of sand, containers, and figurines to use when doing sand therapy. This episode’s special guest is Timothy Hollar, who shares a sand tray technique specific for clients who are going through transitions. Rachel’s research segment explores the use of sand therapy with clients who have dementia.

In this bonus episode, Dr. Denis' shares some thoughts about counselors, clients, and the chaos that has been triggered as a result of the Coronavirus. She also provides practical strategies for keeping your sanity in the midst of this challenging time.

This episode is all about incorporating drama and puppets into play therapy. Dr. Denis explains what drama therapy is, who is qualified to use it, what materials are needed, and how to go about incorporating drama and puppets into sessions with clients. She also talks about how drama can be incorporated into work with children, adolescents, emerging adults, and professional adults. This episode includes a special interview with Jamie Langley. In her research summary, Rachel talks about The Body Keeps the Score, a fascinating book that dives into how trauma impacts the body.

Music is such an important part of our lives, and in this episode, Dr. Denis explores different ways it can be incorporated into play therapy. She discusses the fundamentals of music therapy and how it can be used with children, teens, and adults. Musician and therapist Sheldon Clark is this episode’s special guest – he shares a technique called “Song of Hope.” In this episode’s research segment, Rachel discusses the effectiveness of short-term music therapy in adults with chronic mental illness.

In this episode, Dr. Denis talks about incorporating movement into play therapy. After going over the basics and discussing how to incorporate movement across the lifespan, she interviews Dr. Jennifer Rubens, who explains how to use a specific movement technique called "Marshmallow Catapult." In Rachel’s research segment, she talks about Dr. Dan Siegel’s research on brain integration.

This episode introduces the theme of Season 2: incorporating expressive arts through the play therapy approach. The topic of this episode is incorporating art in play therapy. Dr. Denis explains what art therapy is, who is qualified to use it, what materials are needed, and how to go about incorporating art into sessions with clients. She also talks about how art can be incorporated into work with children, adolescents, young adults, and older adults. This episode includes a special interview with Jessie Risman, who describes how to use a technique called The Lighthouse. Rachel, our research expert, wraps up the episode with a segment discussing why she’s passionate about research and why it is important for our field.

In this special “between-a-sode,” Dr. Denis' interviews the songwriter, Sara Beth Geoghegan, to learn more about what she captured in the song Firefly. Sara Beth discusses her inspiration for the lyrics and digs deeper into the meaning behind the lyrics. She also talks about how songwriting has been a special part of her healing journey. At the end of this episode, you will hear the whole song and all of the beautiful lyrics and music that Sara Beth has written.

In the final episode of this season, Dr. Denis’ talks about the challenge of sitting with hurting clients day after day without getting burned-out. She offers suggestions for developing comfort with clients’ pain without taking on the responsibility to fix their problems. With adolescent and adult clients she refers to this process as “sitting in the stuck.” In the research segment, Rachel talks about the correlation between therapist empathy and client outcome.

Episode 4 of Play Therapy Across the Lifespan builds on the concepts that were introduced in Episode 3. Dr. Denis’ expands on how to reflect back to clients what they are communicating through three specific techniques: parroting, paraphrasing, and pairing with emotion. She explains how reflecting looks different when working with adolescents and adults than it does when working with children. Rachel wraps up the episode with a research segment that examines activities that can enhance the body-mind connection.

The focus of this episode is active listening. Dr. Denis’ discusses the importance of tuning in to what clients are saying with their words, as well as what they’re saying through nonverbal communication and symbolic play. She explores how these concepts can be applied when working with children, adolescents, and adults. In this episode’s research segment, Rachel talks about the relationship between mirror neurons, empathy, and dance/movement therapy.

In this episode of Play Therapy Across the Lifespan, Dr. Denis’ explains how counselors can use empathy, genuineness, and unconditional positive regard to create a safe space for clients. She cites research done by neuroscientists who discovered that safety has the power to physically heal the effects of trauma in the brain. In this episode’s research segment, Rachel introduces the Polyvagal Theory and explains how therapists’ presence can deepen clients’ felt sense of safety.

In this opening episode of Play Therapy Across the
Lifespan, Dr. Denis’ Thomas shares her wisdom on
the fundamentals of play therapy. If you’ve ever
wondered how to become trained in play therapy,
what kinds of toys to use, or how to set up your
space, this episode will answer all of those questions
and more. Episode 1 also includes a segment on how
to incorporate play therapy techniques when working
with adolescent and adult clients, as well as a
research segment that discusses the benefits of
using play therapy techniques when leading groups.