Endings and Transitions
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It’s hard to say goodbye, especially for children! How do you help kids transition at the end of a play session? How do you help them transition at the conclusion of therapy altogether? How do you help them face the unknown? In this podcast, Lisa addresses why parting is sweet sorrow and how to help children accept change.
2:45 What to do when the child won’t leave the session and the ending is hard
3:30 Why “The Unknown” is considered a threat in the brain and how to address it during endings
5:09 How to“Make the Unknown Known” during endings
6:29 Why it is so important to give a child a “real” countdown
7:43 Why saying a child’s name during endings can help them get into their prefrontal cortex and transition
9:00 Lisa provides an example of language to use during an ending
9:09 The need to give language that explains what is going to happen next
10:10 Lisa reviews the language to use when providing a countdown for a child during a play therapy session
11:53 Why it is important to stop playing when the time is up
12:22 How to use the concept of “acknowledging and redirecting” from Synergetic Play Therapy when you are helping a child transition
13:06 The child must be able to “feel” the therapist and know they are serious that the time is really up
13:35 Lisa models how to “acknowledge and redirect” when the child won’t stop playing
15:18 Do we have the child clean up or not?
16:50 What to do when we determine that the child is done with therapy?
17:20 What it the big indicator that lets us know the child is truly done with therapy
18:45 How neuroscience helps us understand the importance of having 3 sessions after we determine what
20:00 Get the parents on board to help the termination process
20:29 How to introduce “a conscious goodbye” during the final sessions with a child
23:10 We don’t always know when our last session will the child will be
24:24 How to use a transition object to help create closure each session
25:33 How a “treasure” gives a child the message that they are coming to play therapy to collect parts of themselves
27:59 Why it is important to put the transition object outside of your playroom
