Play therapy; Understanding life

Case: A child had set the counseling room to be similar to the real life setting of a grocery store and guided the therapist in their role as a stranger, the child told the therapists that they had to come by them and ask them out for coffee. The child then wrote down a number on a piece of paper.  Later when the therapist had a follow up conversation with the mother, mom told the therapist that she had been recently asked out on a date at a grocery store, and the therapist then made the connection that

the child was trying to understand this life event in play therapy.

Reflection: Play therapy is a great way for a child to role play and mimic what they have experienced in real life; this is a way that they process what is going on around them. If something happened that they didn't understand or were not sure about, then they will use different scenarios in their play to make better sense of their experience.  In this case, the child had seen their mother being asked for her number and out on a date, and without the therapist being aware of this information until after the session, the child had mimicked this real life situation in play therapy. The child had mirrored the parents actions and body gestures and mimicked them into their play therapy counseling session.



Citations:
(2015). Retrieved November 12, 2015, from http://images.vectorhq.com/images/premium/thumbs/161/illustration-of-isolated-cartoon-bear-dress-up_161607902.jpg