Exam 2 Flashcards
Silence
Maintain an attitude of responsiveness that communicates acceptance of silence
Listen carefully, whether they speak or not
Responsive attitudes are not dependent on talking
Bring toys or food
Toy: Recognize and accept child’s desire to bring a special toy to the playroom ON THE FIRST SESSION
“I see you brought something with you to take to the playroom. That must be a special toy”
**allow only those items that would normally be selected for the playroom (depends on toy)
With “forbidden items”: “I know you would like to take a game w/ you to the playroom, but it is for staying here in the waiting room. It will be here when you come back from the playroom”
Food: excluding food from the playroom is generally best, b/c distraction precipitated by eating
potentially allow child to potentially finish snack before getting in the playroom
Dependent
Return responsibility and action back to the child to facilitate their self-reliance; you do not run and fetch items, dress child, choose colors, decide what to do, or open containers they can easily open; **convey confidence in child
Praise
Goal is to have children evaluate themselves and develop an internal system of reward; respond “nonevaluatively” and pay careful attention to detail; if they continue to persist, say “In here the important thing is not whether or not I think your picture is pretty, but what you think about your picture”/”what is important is how you feel about it”
Talk weird
Accepted; “Oh, I do sound different than other people to you”; depending on vibe, it may be “You don’t like the way I talk”
Love or care about them
“You are special to me, and this is our special time together”
Sit in lap/wants a hug
Hugs: to be considered: trauma abuse? (if sexual trauma abuse hx: “I know that is fun for you, but I know you like me without your sitting on my lap”; case-by-case for holding: assess personal comfort level, is this an innocent request w/ no underlying motive?
Refuses to leave
“our time in the playroom is up for today, it is time to go to the waiting room”…”you would like to stay longer to play, but time is up for today” (looking at kid and moving towards door)
Asks to hang picture
do not hang in playroom or in hallway; “I have a special place on my office wall where I keep special things like this so they will be safe”
Wants you to play with them
CCPT—belief in child’s capacity for self-direction and avoid intrusion of personality into child’s play, this is the child’s time to direct their own life, make decisions, play without interference; children may invite T b/c they think it is expected of them, or they want to be liked, approval/security; attitude of the T that matters, not the actual play participation
Wants to give you art
timing of the gift is CRUCIAL in considering when you would or would not accept a gift; limit breaking/relationship restoration, cost of gift, nature of gift, implications of accepting or not accepting; emotional gifts more powerful and more satisfying than tangible gifts; artwork is something created by child and is an extension of them, accept w/ warm appreciation, prizing tone, commenting on details
Cleaning
cleaning is not the responsibility of the child
Rewards
play is intrinsically rewarding, they do not need a reward for playing
Informing kid of reason for coming to PT
informing children of the reason they are coming into the playroom is not necessary for change and growth to occur; volunteering why they are coming to play implies that something about them is unacceptable; “Your parents are concerned because sometimes things don’t seem to go very well for you at home, and they thought you would like to have a special time in the playroom each Tuesday just for you.”
Bringing a friend to the playroom
may NOT want to allow friends if: kid needs total attention and acceptance, are sensitive to comparisons, have a sexual abuse hx or aggressive, are traumatized; need to consider the relationship b/w primary kiddo before another kiddo is brought in; need to consider timing: (follow a challenging session, fear he is no longer liked, will another kid interfere w/ restoration of relationship); may be more inhibited w/ sharing, or competitive)
