This is an example of work in HDFS 4820, Child Life interventions. I completed this project with Brooke VonSeegar, one of my classmates at UGA.

1. CHILD-CENTERED
PRACTICES & THERAPEUTIC
PLAY
A L L Y S O N S M I T H A N D B R O O K E V O N S E E G E R

2. QR CODE:

3. OBJECTIVES:
- Understand the meaning of play
- Obtain a deeper understanding of
what child-centered play entails
- Understand the importance of the
child's time
- How to properly set limits
- Paradigms of Play

4. Meaning of Play

5. - means of expression/communication
-helps children process experiences,
reactions, and feelings
-gives children a sense of control
- voluntary
- internally motivated
- pleasurable, relaxed
- "as if" or pretense present
- organism- rather than object-dominated
- unique, unpredictable
- child-directed
- active, both motorically and cognitively
What is Play?
Play must be:

6. Play Themes:
Progress
Adaptation
Power
Fantasy
The Play of Self

7. Content is influenced by the
environment, the interactions
and transactions between
children, and theme
content + context
criteria:
- degree of adult involvement
- choice of objects
- nature of intent of play
- type of objects
Content
Types & Forms
free play work
unstructured structured

8. Categories of Play
simple, repetitive
muscle
movements with
or without objects
simple, repetitive
muscle
movements with
or without objects
Acceptance of
prearranged rules
and adjustments
to these rules
Functional Play:
Dramatic Play:
Games with Rules:

9. -
Initially diffuse negative feelings
Anxious/hostile feelings
Hostile feelings towards parents, siblings, etc.
Mix of positive/negative feelings
Realistic positive/negative attitudes
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
boys: more anger/aggressive
girls: more creative/relationship play
Trauma Play
P

10. Play in Healthcare

11. "Play is the highest form
of research"
- Albert Einstein

12. Functions of Play in Health-Care Setting
prevent psychological injury
facilitate emotional and psychological
well-being
support continued development
Therapeutic play:
Play as Therapy:
"Play to help with alleviating
psychosocial injury"
Cure
Prevention
Restoration
Why is it important?
CPR

13. Hospital and Play
Play
environment
Parent
Contact Age
Length of
Stay
Type of
Illness
Gender

14. Child-Centered
Play Therapy

15. - The basis of child-centered play therapy is that how a child feels about
themselves impacts their behavior.
-It is important to note that behavior must be understood through the child's
eyes.
- Children's perception of themselves changes as a result of interacting with
others, they obtain validation from others, and therapists can act as a positive
source.
What is it?

16. Therapists as a Positive Source
- play therapists must be real in sense that they can express their own
feelings and reactions when appropriate
- give unconditional warmth and acceptance
- therapists understand that the power to change is within the child

17. What Children Learn Through
Child-Centered Play Therapy
- how to respect themselves
- their feelings are acceptable
-learn to express feelings responsibly
-how to assume responsibility
- how to be creative and resourceful
-self control and self direction
- responsibility for choices

18. The Child's Time

19. "Consistency produces
predictability and
predictability facilitates a
feeling of safety"
Landreth, p. 188

20. a child feels accepted fully
"the child can be, experience, and express all that
she is at the moment"
What is it?
Child directs themself and determines how time will be
used. The child's play is not directed by anyone else.
Why is it important?
The main focus is the CHILD
Child Hour!

21. Objectives
To establish an
atmosphere of safety
for the child
To understand and
accept the child's
world
To encourage expression
of the child's emotional
needs
To establish feelings
of permissiveness
To facilitate decision
making by the child
To provide the child with an
opportunity to assume
responsibility and to develop
a feeling of control

22. "keep the child in the lead"

23. Do other children come here?
Do you know what this is?
What is this?
How does this work?
Why do you talk like that?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Questioning Techniques of Children

24. The child may already know the answer
By answering, you give the child a
definite answer which leaves no room
for the child's imagination
Questioning may be the child's way of
building a relationship with you
1.
2.
3.
Use your eyes to hear:
Most of the time what you
need to hear is unsaid
Things to consider:

25. Setting Limits

26. Provide structure for the
development of the
therapeutic relationship
and help to make the
experience a real-life
relationship
What are limits?
Total vs Conditional Limits
Conditional: basis for argument
Total Limit: Less confusing, more secure

27. Why set limits?
Physical and
emotional security
and safety for the
child
Protect the physical
well-being of the
therapist and
facilitate acceptance
of the child
Facilitate the
development of
decision making, self-
control, and self-
responsibility of
children
Anchor the session
to reality and
emphasize the
here and now
Promote
consistency in the
playroom
environment
Preserve
professional, ethical,
and socially
acceptable
relationship
Protect the play
therapy materials
and room

28. - Acknowledge the child's
feelings, and wishes, and wants
- Communicate the limit
- Target acceptable alternatives
A-C-T

29. Paradigms of Play

30. Infancy: Exploratory. Encompasses visual/motor actions.
Preschool: Solitary play at younger stages. Sociodramatic/make-belief symbolic play.
School-age: Last stage of concrete thinking. Peer acceptance plays a big role. Role games.
Adolescents: Play is seen through formal operations. "Miniaturized, socialized, abstract",
Doodling, daydreaming, etc.
What Does Play Look Like?

31. - Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi discovered that in order for children to obtain the most from play they
must experience flow.
- Flow of play occurs when children are fully in the moment and consumed by play.
-If play is considered to be too difficult or too easy, then it is not play.
Play as Flow
P

32. QUESTIONS?
QUESTIONS?
QUESTIONS?