Creative Tools for Effective Therapy with Children and Families

Many therapists struggle with how to include children in family sessions using traditional “talk-based” family therapy techniques.  Because younger children have less developed verbal skills and shorter attention spans, strictly talk-based therapy approaches tend not to effectively engage them or allow their voices to be heard. Using play activities and toys as conversational tools forms an ideal bridge for therapists to work with children and families together and provides a method to harness the full power of family therapy with young children.

Participants will learn the basic tenets and techniques of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy and its application to children. Through video, demonstration, discussion, and hands-on practice, participants will learn about collaborative goal setting, scaling techniques, and preferred future activities. This workshop will present strategies for applying creative activities to family therapy sessions and provide specific examples and demonstrations of utilizing Solution-Focused Play Therapy techniques in therapy with children.

Course Content

EXPERIENTIAL ACTIVITY: IDENTIFYING A PREFERRED FUTURE

THERAPEUTIC ASSUMPTIONS

• Solution-focused play therapy
• Role of the toy, the play, and the parent
• Language and how it impacts therapeutic success
• Video clip: First Five Minutes

SFBT TENETS FOR PLAY THERAPY

• Exception finding questions
  • How to discover exceptions from child, parents, teachers, pets, and others
  • Activity

• Pre-session change
• Focus on a problem-free future
  • Miracle play
  • Do the miracle: importance of role-play
  • Wishes, magic, and other imaginative adaptations
  • Video clip: 3 Wishes
• Doing what works
• Collaborative stance
  • Integrating child’s goals and parents’ goals
  • Video clip: Mom and Son Make a Plan
• Therapy is based on client’s goals and expertise

UTILITY OF SCALING

• Scaling essentials
  • Following the child’s lead-art examples
  • Future talk and metaphor
  • Scaling in action

• Scaling tools
  • Demonstrate scaling toys and activities
  • Video demonstration of scaling
  • Multi-participant scaling

SCALING PRACTICE

TRAUMA STRATEGIES

• Multi-sensory strategies for flashbacks and triggers
• Use of scaling with traumatic events
• Coping
  • I sort of want to live
  • Details of a less crappy day

Case examples and Resources