Empirically informed play therapy inteventions for treating traumatized children, Parts I & II

Evidence Based Practice is the new standard in the field. However, the evidence base regarding trauma treatments for children, particularly young children, is in the early stages of it's evolution. Recent research related to the neurobiology of trauma, implicit and explicit memory systems and the impact of these dynamics on trauma treatment will be discussed. Treatments with a large evidence base, such as TF-CBT and EMDR will be discussed with a view to how many of the treatment goals can be accomplished and more easily digested by children through the vehicle of play. It is critical that practitioners who serve traumatized children be able to match interventions to treatment goals and symptomatology. Specific play therapy interventions will be tied to treatment goals in an effort to help practitioners expand their repertoires with child-friendly interventions based on the latest research. The treatment areas covered in this workshop will include helping the client to 1) re-establish a sense of safety and security, 2) learn and practice stress inoculation strategies, 3) identify and confront faulty attributions related to the trauma, 4) restructure distorted cognitions related to the trauma and 5) create a trauma narrative. Several play therapy interventions will be explained and demonstrated for each of the aforementioned gaols. Children accomplish the hard work of healing from trauma in a gentle, fun and safe treatment milieu. Case vignettes, slides and video clips will augment the didactic presentation. Experiential methods will also be used. Participants should come prepared to play!

Conference

English

Paris Goodyear-Brown

Goodyear-Brown, P. (2008, January). Empirically informed play therapy inteventions for treating traumatized children, Parts I & II. Presentation at the San Diego International Conference on Child and Family Maltreatment, San Diego, CA