Play Therapy in Schools

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Play Therapy in Schools

• Play therapy in a school setting needs to have
  the full cooperation from all administrators. The
  administrators need to inform the professional
  teaching staff that the counselor will be part
  of the curriculum.

• Playroom age through 10
• Engage in board games with older students
• Group therapy 4th grade

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Play Therapy in Schools

• Daily schedule could be limited to P.E. and music
  to pull out.
• Meet once with child to assess what will benefit
  the child.
• Inform parents
• Invite parents to view from behind two-way
  mirror, if applicable.

• Read a book The Special Playroom or A Childs
  First Book About Play Therapy
• This will introduce the playroom to the child and
  possibly eliminate some anxieties the child may
  be having.

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Play Therapy in Schools

• School play therapy tends to short-term,
  directive is a preferred method once the child is
  acclimated.
• Nondirective play therapy works well children who
  have a behavior problem or a resistant client.
• Using a combination of directive and nondirective
  play therapy allow the session to begin to flow
  and end with structure to return to the classroom.

• Informing the child as the session starts that
  he/she can choose what to play right now and in
  the last part of the session the counselor might
  choose to do something different.
• Remember a school setting has education as a
  goal. A counselor needs to be therapeutic.

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Play Therapy in Schools

• Available space
• Carefully selected toys
• Keep session confidential
• Respect the childs privacy
• Work cooperatively with staff
• Make referrals to outside professionals

• Encourage child, do not praise
• Use digital camera to take pictures of art work
  or sand art pictures
• Get to know new students to meet needs

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Play Therapy in Schools

• Working together to empower children daily.
• Have a puzzle out
• Bibliotherapy needs to be included
• Have classroom resources visible

• Play therapy in school differs from play therapy
  in other settings in only the amount of time a
  counselor has to counsel with each child.
• Setting limits
• Esteem building

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Play Therapy in Schools

• Allowing the students to get to know the
  counselor
• Invite a couple of students to join you for
  lunch.
• Bring guidance curriculum into the classroom.

Games for older children to have
available Ungame Thinking, Feeling, and Doing
Game Family Happenings Communication Skill
Builders Tattletale Trivia Girltalk Commercial
games modified for therapeutic use Topple,
Battleship, Stay Alive, Hangman, Jenga Use
diagnostic observations social/behavioral,
cognitive, emotional, and family as games are
played.
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Product Resources

• www.selfesteemshop.com
• Courage to Change 1-800-440-4003
• Marco Products 1-800-448-2197
• Paperbacks For Educators www.any-book-in-print.co
  m
• www.teachingtolerance.org