281 | Playroom Representation: Sensitivity Without Over-Complication

0
00:00:00,439 --> 00:00:04,320
You're listening to the Play Therapy Podcast with Dr. Brenna Hicks,

1
00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:08,189
your source for centered and focused play therapy coaching.

2
00:00:08,479 --> 00:00:08,600
Hi,

3
00:00:08,680 --> 00:00:09,670
I'm Dr. Brenna Hicks,

4
00:00:09,680 --> 00:00:10,399
The Kid Counselor.

5
00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:12,520
This is the Play Therapy Podcast where you get

6
00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:14,819
a master class in child-centered play therapy

7
00:00:15,079 --> 00:00:17,239
and practical support and application for your

8
00:00:17,239 --> 00:00:18,950
work with children and their families.

9
00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:20,200
In today's episode,

10
00:00:20,290 --> 00:00:23,069
I am answering a question from Mia in California,

11
00:00:23,159 --> 00:00:23,829
I think.

12
00:00:24,729 --> 00:00:27,450
I think that 619 is a California area code,

13
00:00:27,530 --> 00:00:27,879
so

14
00:00:28,049 --> 00:00:29,530
I'm going to hope that I'm correct.

15
00:00:29,610 --> 00:00:29,850
Mia,

16
00:00:29,930 --> 00:00:32,040
I'm sorry if that's not where you are,

17
00:00:32,290 --> 00:00:33,970
or at least you lived there at some point anyway,

18
00:00:34,090 --> 00:00:35,400
so I can't be that far off.

19
00:00:36,049 --> 00:00:36,599
OK,

20
00:00:37,250 --> 00:00:42,009
so Mia has a question about dollhouse families in the playroom.

21
00:00:42,799 --> 00:00:46,119
And we don't talk about specific toys that often.

22
00:00:46,529 --> 00:00:48,209
So I'm kind of excited about this podcast.

23
00:00:48,330 --> 00:00:49,529
So let me

24
00:00:49,849 --> 00:00:51,970
read a little bit of the email and then we'll dive in.

25
00:00:52,959 --> 00:00:55,639
I'm applying to MFT programs currently with my

26
00:00:55,639 --> 00:00:58,299
sights set on becoming a child-centered play therapist.

27
00:00:58,470 --> 00:00:59,830
I'm so excited about that,

28
00:00:59,869 --> 00:01:00,299
Mia,

29
00:01:00,669 --> 00:01:02,689
and I feel as if I'm in a specialized

30
00:01:02,689 --> 00:01:06,690
graduate program already by having regularly digesting your podcast.

31
00:01:06,949 --> 00:01:07,720
I'm so glad.

32
00:01:08,190 --> 00:01:08,349
All right,

33
00:01:08,430 --> 00:01:09,139
so the question

34
00:01:09,269 --> 00:01:11,629
I'm curious to hear your thoughts about dollhouse families.

35
00:01:11,830 --> 00:01:14,470
Do you have various cultures or and or physical

36
00:01:14,470 --> 00:01:16,819
capabilities represented in the dolls that you use?

37
00:01:17,580 --> 00:01:20,010
Have you noticed any trends amongst your kids

38
00:01:20,339 --> 00:01:22,209
about which dolls they gravitate toward?

39
00:01:22,459 --> 00:01:25,620
And I'm also curious about whether you have a preference

40
00:01:25,940 --> 00:01:29,660
for multicultural representation in the dollhouse families over a

41
00:01:29,660 --> 00:01:33,209
single non-skin color tone such as blue or lavender.

42
00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:35,230
OK,

43
00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:37,489
so let's talk through this together.

44
00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:41,120
One of the things that's important to note is that we

45
00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:44,360
want to have different kinds of families in a playroom,

46
00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:45,430
and here's what I mean.

47
00:01:45,919 --> 00:01:47,139
You want to have

48
00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:48,669
animal families,

49
00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:50,919
you want to have human families.

50
00:01:51,739 --> 00:01:53,680
And you want to have

51
00:01:53,970 --> 00:01:54,800
different

52
00:01:55,209 --> 00:01:56,489
representations of families.

53
00:01:56,569 --> 00:01:57,459
In other words,

54
00:01:57,610 --> 00:01:58,599
you can have.

55
00:01:59,519 --> 00:02:01,080
A whole set of dinosaurs,

56
00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:01,510
for example,

57
00:02:01,559 --> 00:02:02,589
that might be a family.

58
00:02:02,959 --> 00:02:05,940
And then you'll have a whole set of people that might be a family,

59
00:02:06,239 --> 00:02:08,029
but then you also want to have

60
00:02:08,699 --> 00:02:14,160
A parent giraffe and a baby giraffe or a parent elephant and a baby elephant,

61
00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:16,880
and a parent cheetah and a baby cheetah,

62
00:02:17,130 --> 00:02:18,750
you always want to have

63
00:02:19,050 --> 00:02:20,479
different options

64
00:02:20,929 --> 00:02:23,440
for kids to use as families,

65
00:02:23,690 --> 00:02:26,580
even though it might not be a family in a traditional sense,

66
00:02:26,850 --> 00:02:29,240
because sometimes it's too personal

67
00:02:29,490 --> 00:02:30,839
to use people

68
00:02:31,089 --> 00:02:32,250
to represent a family,

69
00:02:32,529 --> 00:02:35,169
but you can use animals to represent a family.

70
00:02:36,369 --> 00:02:37,490
Let me tell a really quick story.

71
00:02:37,570 --> 00:02:38,449
So when I was little,

72
00:02:38,610 --> 00:02:39,259
I,

73
00:02:39,610 --> 00:02:42,839
I know this is probably gonna shock a lot of you that know me well,

74
00:02:43,169 --> 00:02:43,639
but

75
00:02:43,850 --> 00:02:46,889
I collected bunnies of all kinds,

76
00:02:46,970 --> 00:02:47,119
like,

77
00:02:47,130 --> 00:02:48,729
not actual live bunnies,

78
00:02:48,809 --> 00:02:49,899
not breathing ones.

79
00:02:50,130 --> 00:02:51,080
But my room,

80
00:02:51,250 --> 00:02:53,929
every time we were out and we saw something that had a

81
00:02:53,929 --> 00:02:56,919
bunny or was a bunny or represented bunnies in some way,

82
00:02:57,160 --> 00:02:58,199
it ended up in my room,

83
00:02:58,330 --> 00:02:58,690
so.

84
00:02:59,270 --> 00:03:01,899
I had all different kinds and I know that's like

85
00:03:01,899 --> 00:03:04,089
really gentle and sweet and I'm not really like that.

86
00:03:04,100 --> 00:03:04,899
But anyway,

87
00:03:05,149 --> 00:03:06,429
I guess I've evolved.

88
00:03:06,820 --> 00:03:07,440
So

89
00:03:08,100 --> 00:03:08,729
the,

90
00:03:08,940 --> 00:03:11,710
the funny thing is my mom saves everything

91
00:03:12,059 --> 00:03:15,690
and so I'm still like all these years later,

92
00:03:15,740 --> 00:03:17,449
I've been married for 23 years almost,

93
00:03:17,619 --> 00:03:21,949
and I'm still getting bags full of stuff from my childhood that she has had,

94
00:03:22,020 --> 00:03:22,220
you know,

95
00:03:22,389 --> 00:03:23,770
just all these years.

96
00:03:24,059 --> 00:03:26,460
And so I had

97
00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:29,429
These fuzzy little bunnies

98
00:03:29,679 --> 00:03:30,789
that had clothes on.

99
00:03:31,529 --> 00:03:33,539
It was like a brown bunny family,

100
00:03:33,770 --> 00:03:34,410
and it was mom,

101
00:03:34,570 --> 00:03:34,770
dad,

102
00:03:34,929 --> 00:03:35,250
grandma,

103
00:03:35,330 --> 00:03:35,729
grandpa,

104
00:03:35,929 --> 00:03:36,240
boy,

105
00:03:36,250 --> 00:03:36,759
girl.

106
00:03:37,490 --> 00:03:38,250
And I don't know,

107
00:03:38,330 --> 00:03:40,160
I think they were like the calico critters.

108
00:03:40,169 --> 00:03:41,520
I think that was the,

109
00:03:41,690 --> 00:03:42,809
the brand of them.

110
00:03:43,550 --> 00:03:45,679
And apparently that's kind of made a come back because

111
00:03:45,679 --> 00:03:48,389
I've seen references to calico critters lately and I'm like,

112
00:03:48,399 --> 00:03:48,800
oh my gosh,

113
00:03:48,809 --> 00:03:49,770
I had those when I was a kid.

114
00:03:49,779 --> 00:03:50,720
Every everything comes full circle,

115
00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:51,360
right?

116
00:03:51,559 --> 00:03:54,669
But I had what I think were calico critters bunnies.

117
00:03:55,119 --> 00:03:55,320
Well,

118
00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:58,240
they all have little outfits on and they're brown furry

119
00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:01,089
little bunnies and they have movable arms and legs.

120
00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:03,970
So my mom gives me this bag with some other stuff and those,

121
00:04:04,240 --> 00:04:04,720
and I'm like,

122
00:04:04,759 --> 00:04:08,149
I'm gonna put those in the playroom and my kids love them.

123
00:04:08,690 --> 00:04:11,479
So they're kind of an interesting hybrid of

124
00:04:12,050 --> 00:04:15,320
people and animals because they're animals wearing clothes,

125
00:04:15,490 --> 00:04:17,238
and you can very clearly see

126
00:04:17,410 --> 00:04:19,640
what role each person in the family has.

127
00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:21,440
So anyway,

128
00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:23,709
I actually put that in my playroom pretty recently

129
00:04:23,709 --> 00:04:25,750
and my kids have really taken to them.

130
00:04:26,079 --> 00:04:28,040
So you want to make sure that you

131
00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:31,679
have different options for families in your playroom.

132
00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:32,600
So that's number one.

133
00:04:33,519 --> 00:04:37,660
Do you wanna have various skin colors and or physical capabilities represented?

134
00:04:37,989 --> 00:04:39,619
You wanna have a variety

135
00:04:39,869 --> 00:04:41,500
of a little bit of everything.

136
00:04:41,950 --> 00:04:42,260
So,

137
00:04:42,429 --> 00:04:44,510
I don't think it's practical to have.

138
00:04:45,480 --> 00:04:49,299
A white skinned family and a brown skinned family and a black skinned family

139
00:04:49,470 --> 00:04:49,920
and I like,

140
00:04:49,929 --> 00:04:53,339
I think that becomes too complicated first of all for cost,

141
00:04:53,589 --> 00:04:54,730
for storage,

142
00:04:54,950 --> 00:04:56,239
for effective use.

143
00:04:56,350 --> 00:04:56,510
I mean,

144
00:04:56,589 --> 00:04:58,040
I think that's just not practical,

145
00:04:58,109 --> 00:04:58,440
but

146
00:04:58,670 --> 00:05:01,260
I think you need to be mindful of having different

147
00:05:01,260 --> 00:05:04,500
skin tones represented in different things in the playroom.

148
00:05:04,750 --> 00:05:04,989
So,

149
00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:05,700
for example,

150
00:05:05,950 --> 00:05:06,690
I have

151
00:05:07,230 --> 00:05:08,670
a couple of black Barbies,

152
00:05:08,709 --> 00:05:10,179
I have a couple of white Barbies.

153
00:05:10,250 --> 00:05:12,100
That's not a family necessarily.

154
00:05:12,450 --> 00:05:14,570
But you can see the difference in skin tone,

155
00:05:14,649 --> 00:05:16,649
and if a child wants light or dark skin,

156
00:05:16,730 --> 00:05:18,059
they will choose accordingly.

157
00:05:18,609 --> 00:05:20,519
So you wanna have different options.

158
00:05:20,570 --> 00:05:22,040
I do have a

159
00:05:22,730 --> 00:05:25,920
figure of a child in a wheelchair in the room.

160
00:05:26,489 --> 00:05:27,540
I have a figure

161
00:05:27,730 --> 00:05:29,920
with someone with a broken leg on crutches

162
00:05:30,250 --> 00:05:30,970
in the playroom.

163
00:05:31,130 --> 00:05:32,920
So you just want to think about

164
00:05:33,170 --> 00:05:34,549
what would be helpful

165
00:05:34,850 --> 00:05:35,609
for kids

166
00:05:35,850 --> 00:05:37,279
that they would connect with.

167
00:05:37,529 --> 00:05:39,450
So you do want to have options

168
00:05:39,690 --> 00:05:40,410
in that way.

169
00:05:41,119 --> 00:05:42,010
And

170
00:05:42,399 --> 00:05:44,709
whether or not I have a preference for

171
00:05:45,279 --> 00:05:48,869
multicultural representation over blue or lavender,

172
00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:49,670
for example.

173
00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:53,679
This kind of goes back to you just want to have a whole bunch of different options.

174
00:05:54,119 --> 00:05:54,820
It's interesting.

175
00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:56,790
I have the inside out characters.

176
00:05:57,730 --> 00:05:58,480
From the movie

177
00:05:58,649 --> 00:05:59,579
in my playroom,

178
00:05:59,929 --> 00:06:01,000
not because I bought them,

179
00:06:01,049 --> 00:06:03,470
but because they were a gift from one of my clients.

180
00:06:04,130 --> 00:06:06,649
So they went to Disney Springs for the weekend

181
00:06:06,649 --> 00:06:08,940
and they bought me the Inside Out character pack.

182
00:06:09,769 --> 00:06:10,619
And

183
00:06:10,820 --> 00:06:13,250
I have had kids use those as

184
00:06:13,540 --> 00:06:14,179
a family.

185
00:06:15,329 --> 00:06:17,239
Now they're all different colors.

186
00:06:17,290 --> 00:06:22,160
They kind of have a prescribed emotion attached to them based on the movie,

187
00:06:22,529 --> 00:06:23,750
but my point is

188
00:06:24,500 --> 00:06:26,839
kids will use whatever they have access to.

189
00:06:27,399 --> 00:06:30,040
So I think one of the things that we get bogged down with is

190
00:06:30,250 --> 00:06:32,809
we have to have everything for everybody in the playroom.

191
00:06:32,890 --> 00:06:33,640
We don't.

192
00:06:34,250 --> 00:06:36,600
Kids will use what they have access to.

193
00:06:36,809 --> 00:06:41,279
They will creatively and cleverly figure out how to use what they need,

194
00:06:41,290 --> 00:06:42,970
even if they don't have something that

195
00:06:43,250 --> 00:06:43,730
they might.

196
00:06:44,529 --> 00:06:45,640
Specifically have requested.

197
00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:45,839
I mean,

198
00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:47,309
how many times does a kid say,

199
00:06:47,559 --> 00:06:48,649
do you have an

200
00:06:48,959 --> 00:06:49,989
X in the room?

201
00:06:50,679 --> 00:06:51,190
And you're like,

202
00:06:51,230 --> 00:06:51,420
oh,

203
00:06:51,429 --> 00:06:52,790
you're wondering if that's in here.

204
00:06:52,869 --> 00:06:54,209
I don't have one of those.

205
00:06:54,630 --> 00:06:56,589
They'll figure out something else instead.

206
00:06:57,559 --> 00:06:57,980
So

207
00:06:58,179 --> 00:07:01,940
I don't know that it's really about whether they're blue or purple or brown,

208
00:07:02,019 --> 00:07:02,809
black or white.

209
00:07:03,019 --> 00:07:06,369
I think it's about making sure that you have things in the room

210
00:07:06,579 --> 00:07:08,809
that will allow kids to create families,

211
00:07:09,019 --> 00:07:10,299
create relationships,

212
00:07:10,660 --> 00:07:13,630
use them in the ways that they need them to be used.

213
00:07:14,140 --> 00:07:16,209
That's the beauty of the child-centered model.

214
00:07:16,779 --> 00:07:19,700
They will always figure out ways to get their needs met.

215
00:07:20,519 --> 00:07:22,470
So even if you had no

216
00:07:22,820 --> 00:07:24,609
people families at all

217
00:07:25,019 --> 00:07:30,269
kids could create a family with animals kids could create a family with blocks kids

218
00:07:30,269 --> 00:07:35,049
could create a family with Lincoln logs kids could create a family with flowers,

219
00:07:35,579 --> 00:07:38,250
it doesn't matter they will figure out a way

220
00:07:38,779 --> 00:07:40,339
to do the work that they need to do.

221
00:07:40,579 --> 00:07:43,609
So I think that the burden is a little bit lessened for us.

222
00:07:43,660 --> 00:07:44,760
We need to be sensitive,

223
00:07:44,820 --> 00:07:45,730
we need to be

224
00:07:46,179 --> 00:07:48,299
aware of what would be helpful for children.

225
00:07:48,739 --> 00:07:51,399
And we try to accommodate as we can

226
00:07:51,809 --> 00:07:53,000
at the same time

227
00:07:53,290 --> 00:07:57,720
we want to just make sure that if we have categories represented,

228
00:07:57,850 --> 00:07:59,380
meaning acting out aggressive,

229
00:07:59,489 --> 00:08:00,000
real life,

230
00:08:00,010 --> 00:08:01,760
and creative artistic expression,

231
00:08:02,130 --> 00:08:05,799
if we have all three of those categories sufficiently represented

232
00:08:06,049 --> 00:08:07,720
and we have most of the items from all of

233
00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:10,890
those categories that are recommended according to Landreth's playroom.

234
00:08:12,119 --> 00:08:15,070
We know that the child will have access to whatever they need

235
00:08:15,239 --> 00:08:16,589
to do the work that they need to do.

236
00:08:17,420 --> 00:08:17,790
So,

237
00:08:17,799 --> 00:08:18,040
Mia,

238
00:08:18,119 --> 00:08:19,309
thank you so much for the question.

239
00:08:19,440 --> 00:08:23,070
I hope that that is helpful to you and everyone else.

240
00:08:23,359 --> 00:08:25,380
And I'm looking forward to

241
00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:27,109
hanging out with y'all more.

242
00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:30,040
This is my favorite time of the week is when I can

243
00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:32,750
just sit down and and talk to my people and my friends.

244
00:08:33,239 --> 00:08:36,580
So thanks for taking me on whatever journeys you take me on.

245
00:08:36,679 --> 00:08:39,070
I appreciate all the time that we spend together.

246
00:08:39,359 --> 00:08:41,869
I was at the conference in Virginia over the weekend,

247
00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:43,349
and I spoke 12 hours there,

248
00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:43,969
so they,

249
00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:45,080
they heard a lot from me.

250
00:08:45,770 --> 00:08:48,570
And one of the ladies at the conference said.

251
00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:52,909
I was at the table at one point and it was kind of in the middle of the day,

252
00:08:53,159 --> 00:08:55,679
and I'm just kind of like in my zone and I'm like

253
00:08:55,679 --> 00:08:58,280
thinking and whatever and then I like looked up and was like,

254
00:08:58,479 --> 00:08:58,919
oh my gosh,

255
00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:00,429
you're actually talking live.

256
00:09:00,669 --> 00:09:01,390
And she goes,

257
00:09:01,679 --> 00:09:04,039
I kinda had this like moment where I thought I was

258
00:09:04,039 --> 00:09:06,789
just listening to another podcast cause that's all I do.

259
00:09:07,330 --> 00:09:07,880
And she's like,

260
00:09:07,890 --> 00:09:08,409
and then I was like,

261
00:09:08,500 --> 00:09:08,570
no,

262
00:09:08,690 --> 00:09:11,159
you can actually look at her and like watch her talk live.

263
00:09:11,690 --> 00:09:12,369
Oh gosh.

264
00:09:12,570 --> 00:09:15,130
So thank you for all the time that I spend in your ears,

265
00:09:15,210 --> 00:09:15,719
truly.

266
00:09:15,809 --> 00:09:19,190
I can't do this if you all don't want to hear it and if you all don't listen.

267
00:09:19,330 --> 00:09:19,719
So

268
00:09:20,130 --> 00:09:21,200
I'm really grateful.

269
00:09:21,530 --> 00:09:22,640
And hopefully,

270
00:09:22,770 --> 00:09:23,690
in a future meetup,

271
00:09:23,729 --> 00:09:25,859
I'll be able to hang out with more of you.

272
00:09:25,969 --> 00:09:26,320
So,

273
00:09:26,489 --> 00:09:26,830
love you all.

274
00:09:26,890 --> 00:09:27,369
Have a great week.

275
00:09:27,450 --> 00:09:28,280
We'll talk again soon.

276
00:09:28,489 --> 00:09:28,690
Bye.

277
00:09:29,890 --> 00:09:32,650
Thank you for listening to the Play Therapy Podcast with Dr.

278
00:09:32,809 --> 00:09:33,729
Brenna Hicks.

279
00:09:33,890 --> 00:09:35,849
For more episodes and resources,

280
00:09:36,010 --> 00:09:40,729
please go to www.playtherapypodcast.com.