Favorite Therapeutic Activities for Children, Adolescents, and Families: Practitioners Share Their Most Effective Interventions Edited by Liana Lowenstein, MSW Copyright © 2011 by Champion Press. All rights reserved. Except as indicated below, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, scanning, or otherwise, without the prior express written permission of the Publisher. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to Champion Press, PO Box 91012, 2901 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M2K 1H0, (416) 575-7836, Fax: (416) 756-7201. Worksheets may be reproduced only within the confines of the use with clients. This limited permission does not grant other rights, nor does it give permission for commercial, resale, syndication, or any other use not contained above. 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Correspondence regarding this book can be sent to: Champion Press PO Box 91012, 2901 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M2K 1H0 Telephone: (416) 575-7836 Fax: (416) 756-7201 Email: [email protected] Web: www.lianalowenstein.com CONTRIBUTORS Shlomo Ariel, PhD Ramat Gan, Israel Email: [email protected] Web: http://sites.google.com/site/drshlomoariel Katherine Arkell, MSW, LCSW Bentonville, Arizona, USA Email: [email protected] Rinda Blom, PhD Free State, South-Africa Email: [email protected] Website: www.redshoecentre.com Donicka Budd, CYW Toronto, Ontario, Canada Email: [email protected] Website: www.donickabudd.com Felicia Carroll, M.Ed., MA Solvang, California, USA Email: [email protected] Webpage: www.feliciacarroll.com Angela M. Cavett, PhD, LP, RPT-S West Fargo, North Dakota, USA Email: [email protected] Web: www.childpsychologicalservices.com Jodi Crane, PhD, NCC, LPCC, RPT-S Columbia Kentucky, USA Email: [email protected] Website: www.ac4pt.org David A. Crenshaw, PhD, ABPP, RPT-S Rhinebeck, New York, USA Website: www.rhinebeckcfc.com Gisela Schubach De Domenico, PhD, LMFT, RPT-S Oakland, California, USA Email: [email protected] Web: www.vision-quest.us Pam Dyson, MA, LPC, RPT Ballwin, Missouri United States Email: [email protected] Website: www.pamdyson.com Abbie Flinner, MACC, NCC New Castle, Pennsylvania USA Email: [email protected] iii Theresa Fraser, C.C.W., BA, CPT Cambridge, Ontario, Canada Email: [email protected] Diane Frey, PhD, RPT-S Dayton, Ohio, USA Email: [email protected] Brijin Gardner, LSCSW, LCSW, RPT-S Parkville, Missouri, USA Email: [email protected] Ken Gardner, M.SC.,R. Psych, CPT-S Calgary, Alberta, Canada Email [email protected] Web: www.rmpti.com Paris Goodyear-Brown, MSW, LCSW, RPT-S Brentwood, Tennessee, USA Email: [email protected] Website: www.parisandme.com Steve Harvey, PhD, RPT-S, BC-DMT New Plymouth, New Zealand Email: [email protected] Katherine M. Hertlein, PhD, LMFT Las Vegas, Nevada, USA Email: [email protected] Web: http://www.kathertlein.com Deborah Armstrong Hickey, PhD, LMFT, RPT-S Greenville, South Carolina, USA Email: [email protected] Web: www.themindgardencentre.com Susan T Howson, MA, CPCC, CHBC Port Credit, Ontario, Canada Email: [email protected] Nilufer Kafescioglu, PhD Istanbul, Turkey Email: [email protected] Web: http://psychology.dogus.edu.tr/akademik.htm Susan Kelsey, M.S., MFT, RPT-S Costa Mesa, California, USA Email: [email protected] Sueann Kenney-Noziska, MSW, LISW, RPT-S Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA Email: [email protected] Website: www.playtherapycorner.com iv Norma Leben, MSW, LCSW, ACSW, RPT-S, CPT-P Pflugerville, Texas, USA Email: [email protected] Website: www.playtherapygames.com Kellen Lewis, MA Frisco, Texas United States Email: [email protected] Liana Lowenstein, MSW, RSW, CPT-S Toronto, Ontario, Canada Email: [email protected] Website: www.lianalowenstein.com Greg Lubimiv, MSW, CPT-S Pembroke, Ontario, Canada Email: [email protected] Web: www.lubimiv.ca Evangeline Munns, PhD, CPsych, RPT-S King City, Ontario, Canada Email: [email protected] Adriana Ribas, PhD Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Email: [email protected] Website: www.quartetoeditora.com.br Brandy Schumann, PhD, LPC-S, NCC, RPT-S McKinney, Texas United States Email: [email protected] Website: www.tots.pro John W. Seymour, PhD, LMFT, RPT-S Mankato, Minnesota, USA Email: [email protected] Angela Siu, PhD, CPT, CTT New Territories, Hong Kong Email: [email protected] Jodi Smith LCSW, RPT-S Claremont, California, USA Email: [email protected] Website: www.playispowerful.info Lauren Snailham, MA Durban, South Africa Email: [email protected] Web: www.therapeutic stories.co.za Katherine Ford Sori, PhD, LMFT Crown Point, Indiana, USA Email: [email protected] Trudy Post Sprunk, LMFT-S, LPC-S, RPT-S, PTI-S Tucker, Georgia, USA Email: [email protected] Jacqueline M. Swank, LCSW, RPT Daytona Beach, Florida, USA Email: [email protected] Rajeswari Natrajan-Tyagi, PhD Irvine, California, USA Email: [email protected] Tammi Van Hollander, LCSW, RPT Ardmore, Pennsylvania United States Email: [email protected] Website: www.imagerythroughplay.com Lisa Voortman, Dip Ed., DSBO Cape Town, South Africa Email: [email protected] Kelly Walker, B.Soc.Sci, Grad.Dip. Melbourne, Australia Email: [email protected] Lorie Walton, M.Ed. CPT-S Bradford, Ontario, Canada Email: [email protected] Website: www.familyfirstplaytherapy.ca Sharlene Weitzman, MSW, RSW, CPT-S Belleville, Ontario, Canada Email: [email protected] Website: www.gwclinicalconsult.com Lorri Yasenik, MSW, RFM, CPT-S, RPT-S Calgary, Alberta, Canada Email [email protected] Web: www.rmpti.com Preface This publication provides a medium for practitioners to share their most effective assessment and treatment interventions. When I invited practitioners to contribute techniques to this publication, I was impressed with the range of creative interventions submitted. Clinicians from divergent theoretical orientations, work settings, or client specializations will find a wide range of creative and useable interventions in this book. The interventions have been divided into three sections. The book begins with engagement and assessment activities providing clinicians with interventions to engage with and evaluate clients. The second section presents treatment techniques to facilitate the working through of therapeutic issues. The last section outlines interventions that can be incorporated as part of the client’s termination process. A variety of activities are provided within each section to enable practitioners to choose interventions that suit their clients’ specific needs. Each technique outlines specific goals. Materials needed to complete the activity are listed. The eBook includes detailed instructions for all activities and a discussion section that further clarifies application and process. Practitioners using the interventions in this publication should be well-trained in therapeutic intervention with children and families. A warm and caring rapport must be established with the client, and the activities should be implemented using sound clinical principles. I hope this collection of interventions helps to create an engaging and meaningful therapeutic experience for your clients. Liana Lowenstein ii Section One: Engagement and Assessment Interventions Boat-Storm-Lighthouse Assessment Source: Trudy Post Sprunk Published in Creative Family Therapy Techniques Edited by Lowenstein, 2010 Treatment Modality: Family Goals • Gather information about the family, especially issues pertaining to danger and rescue • Create an opportunity to express feelings such as fear, helplessness, hopelessness, bravery, etc. • Identify ways to access support Materials • Large sheet of white paper or poster board • Markers • Paper and pencil for each family member Advance Preparation Provide a large flat surface for the drawing activity. Place the large sheet of paper or poster board so all family members can easily reach it. Arrange seating to insure privacy while writing. Description Explain to family members that they are to fill a poster board with one drawing of a boat, a storm, and a lighthouse. They are to complete the task silently. Upon completion, ask each to write a story about what he/she thinks happened before, during, and after the storm. A young child can quietly dictate a story to the therapist. After each person shares his/her story, the therapist guides the family in a discussion involving fears, rescue, danger, and how to access family support when needed. The therapist models acceptance of the diverse beliefs and experiences within the family. The therapist may help the family experience the process by exploring the following: 1. What do you think it would have been like to be in the boat with your family during the storm? 2. Who would have been most helpful to you during the storm? 3. Can you name three feelings you might have had during the worst part of the storm? 4. If you believed that a rescue would occur, how did you think it would happen? 5. In what ways could you have asked for help? 4 Discussion Boat-storm-lighthouse assessment is an engaging activity. The drawing provides a glimpse into each family member’s inner world, including traits, attitudes, behaviors, and personality strengths and weaknesses. More specifically, the drawing enables the therapist, as well as the family members, to learn such things as who tends to be optimistic and upbeat or who might be more pessimistic or morbid. It also uncovers the ability to mobilize inner resources and access external support when faced with danger and conflict. A family art activity “is a tool that provides the therapist and the participants with a vehicle for exploration. During the evaluation phase the art task offers the family a focus for an interactional experience. This technique, which delineates communication patterns, is viewed primarily through the process and secondarily through the content… From the moment the family is involved in creating a product, a record of each action is documented onto the construct. Thus, cause and effect are observable, enabling the clinician to assess both the strengths and weaknesses of the total family and the members therein” (Landgarten, 1987). Family differences can be openly discussed, as well as some of the reasons these differences exist in the family. The therapist models support for the individual differences and encourages the family to support a member who is not thinking or feeling positively. A discussion of how to access family support is the final stage of this activity. Reference Landgarten, H.B. (1987). Family art therapy: A clinical guide and casebook. New York: Routledge.   About The Author Trudy Post Sprunk, LMFT-S, LPC-S, RPT-S, CPT-S, is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Supervisor who has been practicing psychotherapy since 1971. She has presented at international, national, and local conferences and has been interviewed on radio and television. She is certified as an EMDR Specialist and is a Registered Play Therapist Supervisor. She is past-president of the Association for Play Therapy and president and co-founder of the Georgia Association for Play Therapy. © Trudy Post Sprunk 5