256 | Theoretical Consistency: Avoiding Burnout When Working with All Ages

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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,

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I'm Dr. Brenna Hicks,

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The Kid Counselor.

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This is the Play Therapy Podcast where you get

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a master class in child-centered 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,

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I am answering a question from Chiara in Florida,

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a fellow Floridian,

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always exciting.

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And this is about working with 14 and up.

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So we know that 3 to 14 is the range typically for CCPT

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and

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Chiara works with

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kids but also adults and the 14 and up population.

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So she has some questions about that and we

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will dive in to kind of process that together.

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So let me read parts of her email.

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I started listening to your podcast around a month ago and I love it.

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Welcome,

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very glad that you found us and that you're here.

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This is

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a really fun group of people to hang out with,

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so

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thankful that you've been listening.

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I have a question.

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I work in a community outpatient mental health setting with kids and adults.

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You've mentioned working with adults in another

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setting and the most recent podcast,

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I heard you say CCPT is good for anyone under 14.

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I do work with individuals that are older than 14 and was wondering

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what your theoretical orientation is for working with this older age range.

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Do you switch to a wholly person centered approach or is there

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something else you've found to be most closely aligned with the CCPT way

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of being,

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but working with older teens and adults?

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All right,

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so thank you for this.

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I think this is actually a really fun topic to dive into.

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We,

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in order to be fully theoretically aligned,

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we talk about being adherent to CCPT all the time,

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but we need to track backwards here.

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So CCPT.

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child-centered

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came from person centered.

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So in order for us to remain adherent to our theoretical orientation.

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Not the model at this point,

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the theoretical orientation.

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We have to go back to Rogeren.

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And yes,

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absolutely it is person centered.

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Because

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we still will understand the core conditions,

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we still will understand the self-actualization process.

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And the skills that we use in CCPT are appropriate for any age of client.

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We're still going to reflect feelings,

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we're still going to reflect content,

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we're still going to.

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Provide choices

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we're still going to encourage.

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And it's all about the relationship.

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None of that changes regardless of how old

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our client is.

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I would argue none of that changes no matter

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what interaction we happen to be having at any given moment.

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I was joking on the the live event call

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that.

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I

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am

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CCPT through and through.

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It's a way of being,

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right?

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So

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I don't put on

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my therapy hat and then quote do therapy.

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I am congruent and consistent

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with

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this approach to

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life.

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And that's why it's so easy

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to be person centered when you work with kids that are 14 and up.

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Now,

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I will say 14 and 15 year olds,

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they still will likely want to do some kind of activity

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while they speak to you.

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We know that when the hands are engaged in doing something.

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It makes it easier for people to verbally communicate.

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Inhibitions are lessened and they're more likely to talk.

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So a 14 and a 15 year old,

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although they do have abstract reasoning,

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and although they do have the verbal capacity to communicate,

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they will likely feel more at ease and more comfortable

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if they're doing something.

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So you might

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want to make sure that a 14, 15,

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16 year old,

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they have some options that they can just occupy themselves doing something.

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They can doodle,

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they can squeeze a stress ball,

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they can play with slime or putty

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or something.

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They

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can have something to do that distracts their brain

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a little bit from just sitting and talking.

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But as far as what we do

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and how we interact and respond,

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we don't change anything.

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We're still going to use the reflective responses.

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We're still going to fall back on the four pillars.

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Many of the rules of thumb and tenets and principles still apply.

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When a person is drowning,

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it's not the time to teach them to swim.

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Just noticing a person is a powerful builder of self-esteem.

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Focus on the doughnut,

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not the hole.

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The

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tenets and principles apply regardless of the age of the person,

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which is why CCPT has been proven effective

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with all age ranges.

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They have proven that child-centered play

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therapy works with geriatric populations,

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works with all middle age ranges,

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and obviously children.

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Why?

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Because it's a way of being.

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And it honors the relationship.

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It honors the person.

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There's unconditional love and acceptance.

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The be-with attitudes convey.

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I'm here,

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I hear you,

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I understand,

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I care and I delight in you.

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And above all,

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it's this deep rooted trust.

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That if the relationship and the environment

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are conducive.

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The client at any age,

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will want to become a better version of themselves.

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So your

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final question,

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is there something else you found to be most closely aligned with CCPT?

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The only way to be most closely aligned with CCPT is to be wholly person centered.

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So if you have not read it,

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read Rogers, On Becoming a Person.

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Refresh yourself with Rogerian principles.

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With the premise

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of the entire theoretical approach.

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Because

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there is nothing

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more effective.

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Then believing that the relationship is going to be the catalyst for change.

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That doesn't change at all regardless of the age of the person.

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And all of our principles

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are going to carry over.

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It's actually very freeing.

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I,

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I,

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I thought about this a lot.

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Many of my coaching participants and many of the Collective members

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are

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maybe moving toward being exclusively a child-centered play therapist,

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but many people are seeing kids and adults

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in varying degrees of ratio.

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And what I have found is

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the

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therapists that

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don't get burned out

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and the therapists that are able to sustain

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going back and forth between adult clients and children clients

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is when the theoretical

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approach

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is consistent.

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So,

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I'm wholly person centered with my adults,

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and I'm wholly child-centered with my kids.

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It makes it easy

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to be congruent.

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Because what happens if you don't,

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you have a lot of therapists that are doing

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DBT or CBT or EMDR or fill in the blank

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with their adults,

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and then they have to switch gears and try to be child-centered

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in the playroom at the next hour when the child comes in.

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I can't even fathom

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the difficulty of that.

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I can't,

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I,

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I can't imagine the transition,

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the

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setting your brain up in a completely different way to work.

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I,

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I think that's just setting everyone up for failure.

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I think it's setting the therapist up for failure,

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and I think it's setting clients up for failure.

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So to make it work,

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if you're going to see children and adults.

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You are fully aligned theoretically,

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regardless of the age,

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and then that is how you sustain that.

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That's how you don't get burned out

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and frustrated because your brain can't handle

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the massive shifts in

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approach.

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So Chiara,

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thank you so much for the question.

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I hope that that was helpful for all of you and

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if you would like to reach out,

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please do so,

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even if it's just to say hello.

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I really like getting emails from you all.

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For those of you that might be new,

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welcome,

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really glad you're here,

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and just

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little public service announcement.

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I do actually read every single email

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and many of you question that,

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but I promise you I do.

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No one vets them,

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no one screens them.

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They come directly to me.

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I read them,

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I respond.

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I promise you that

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it comes to me and only me.

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So if you would like to reach out,

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I'd love to hear from you,

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brenna@thekidcounselor.com.

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By the way,

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if you would like to leave a voicemail

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question,

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you can do that in the states at 813-812-5525.

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All right y'all,

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have a great week.

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We'll talk again soon.

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Love you.

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Bye.

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Thank you for listening to the Play Therapy Podcast with Dr.

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Brenna Hicks.

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For more episodes and resources,

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please go to www.playtherapypodcast.com.