193 | Welcoming Back Clients: Handling Returns to Child-Centered Play Therapy

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You're listening to the Play Therapy Podcast with Dr. Brenna Hicks.

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Your source for centered and focused play therapy coaching.

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Hi, I'm Dr. Brenna Hicks, The Kid Counselor.

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This is the Play Therapy Podcast where you get a master class in child center,

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play therapy

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and practical support and application for your

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work with children and their families.

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In today's episode. I am answering a question from Danielle in Georgia

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and her question is related to a client coming back to CCPT after a long break

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and often

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because we leave the door open to a child returning at any point once we terminate,

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we will have children that will come back.

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And so she's asking some specifics about the details of how to best handle that.

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So we'll dive into that.

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Let me read you a little bit of her email and then we'll talk about it together.

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I have had a client recently return to CCPT with me after a year long hiatus.

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During the first three sessions,

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the client has spent a lot of

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time reminiscing about their previous therapeutic experiences,

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recalling toys they used to play with

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and checking if things are still the same.

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They seem mostly full of joy as they recall these memories but also

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get sad when toys have been replaced or are no longer there.

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Obviously, there's a potential emerging theme here.

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But I'm curious about your thoughts on children reentering the CCPT world.

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Is there a different process I should consider?

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And then she said, side note,

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this child's presenting concern is predominantly behavioral.

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Ok. Well, thank you so much, Danielle. So

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let's start with

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your

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main question.

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Is there a different process I should consider? No.

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So

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I feel like I'm such a broken record and I'm so emphatic about that.

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But every time I'm asked, are there modifications?

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Are there some changes or is there other some other considerations?

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Is there a different process?

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I just say no. So the the beauty of CCPT

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is we don't change it.

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So we don't do anything differently.

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However,

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we will be sensitive to where the child is and

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we will respond according to what the child is processing.

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So

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you already kind of highlighted it.

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You said that the child has been spending a

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lot of time reminiscing about their previous therapeutic experiences.

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Ok.

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So when we see that a child is reminiscing, we're going to reminisce with the child.

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Not that we take over, not that we commandeer the conversation.

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But if the child were to say,

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oh, I remember when I used to shoot the crossbow all the time at the target,

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we would say, oh, you remember shooting the crossbow? I remember that too.

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So the goal is always

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to help the child feel

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that

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we remember what they remember and that those shared experiences are still present

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and we've not forgotten

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the things that we did together. We have not forgotten the process.

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And similarly, when a child returns,

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they go back into exploratory play a little bit just

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like they did when they first started with us,

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that is also normal and expected.

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So there's going to be probably a hybrid of some exploratory investigation

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type of play as well as some reminiscing type of play.

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And that is just the standard process when kids return,

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but it's also to re-establish the relationship.

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So the relationship persists,

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that's why we work so hard to have healthy and happy goodbyes.

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That's why we work so hard to provide termination and closure

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because we want the child to know that

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they can always come back and that the relationship persists.

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So when they're reminiscing over things, it's actually connective

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and it's relational,

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they're trying to make it known that they remember

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the things that you all did together.

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So you're going to acknowledge those things out loud as well.

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And one of the most helpful things that

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we can do is reflect content and reflect feelings

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during that type of play.

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So you're excited to be here again, right?

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Or you're happy to be back or you're glad to be playing with me again.

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Right. So we would reflect feelings, we would also reflect content.

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You remember when you used to always play doctor,

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you remember doing that in the sand with me before.

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So the goal is

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that we are going to make it very known that we are reminiscing,

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remembering and relating just like the child needs and wants to as well

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and

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be mindful too that often when a child returns,

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they naturally gravitate toward old play themes.

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So they will revisit thematically where they were before

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and they will circle back to the exact same play that they've done in the past.

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And that is part of their. Do I still need to do this?

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It's a check in,

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am I past this? Do I still need this? How does this serve me still?

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They're trying to figure out where they need to go

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in their second round of play.

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So while we don't change the process any while we don't

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do anything different

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than the traditional CCPT approach,

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we can be a little bit intentional about making sure that we're connecting,

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we're reminiscing, we're revisiting those things with the child

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and that is re-establish of the relationship more than anything else.

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And that's a very powerful first session

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because the child already knows

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the work already knows the process.

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They just want to make sure that the relationship is still present

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and the relationship is what allows for the self actualization process to begin.

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All right, Danielle. Thank you so much for your question.

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If you would like to reach out to me.

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I'd love to hear from you brenna@thekidcounselor.com

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and you can always leave a voicemail on 813-812-5525.

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If you're in the States, love you all. We'll talk again soon. Bye.

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Thank you for listening to the Play Therapy Podcast

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with Dr. Brenna Hicks for more episodes and resources.

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Please go to www.playtherapypodcast.com.