St. Louis Play Therapy: Parent Child Interaction Therapy
Play Therapist for Anxiety: Information On How We Use Play at Compassionate Counseling St. Louis
Play therapy is an overarching term that covers a lot of different types of therapy.
And, more often than not, when your pediatrician or school counselor recommends play therapy, they’re not telling you what specific kind of play is best for you and your child. They’re using it as a catch-all, for therapy that involves play in some kind of form. When parents let me know that they’ve been referred for “play therapy,” they’re not really sure what that means or what it entails. Parents of young children often call me, letting me know that they’ve been referred for “play therapy.” But what does play therapy mean, and what does it entail?
Parent-Child Interaction Therapy
Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is based on play therapy models. It teaches parents how to work with their children in much the same way that a play therapist will build rapport and engagement. There are two components of this: Child Directed Interaction (CDI), and Parent Directed Interaction (PDI).
CDI - Learning to Become a Parent Play Therapist:
Child directed interaction is where the child leads the content of the play. This is most often what we integrate in our office as a way to build a relationship and engagement with our client.
During the CDI, or “special play time” as I often term it for kids, we play for 5 minutes. During this time, I do not take the lead at all. I let the child choose what activities they do, and the whole time, I’m engaged in the following three components:
Reflecting/paraphrasing the child’s speech
Describing the child’s behaviors
Specific praise of the positive behaviors seen in play
The most challenging part: not jumping in to redirect, lead the play, or make suggestions.
These 5 minutes are really set aside for your child. And during this time, you want to shoot for a lot of reflection, description, and praise.
Reflection of child’s speech:
If the kid is holding up a piece of play-doh and saying it’s a burrito, I say “You’re right, that is a burrito!” Or if they are using animals to tell a story and describe the elephant as a giraffe’s mom, I’ll say “Oh I see, that’s the giraffe’s mom!” It’s easy to reflect - it’s hard not to add your own spin during the CDI. As the therapist I would never ask, “Oh, the giraffe’s mom is an elephant? Really?” Nor would I say, “And that burrito looks delicious, let’s eat it!” or “Let me see that!” Questions, redirections, and commands are big no-no’s in PCIT.
Describing behaviors:
Specifically describe what the child is doing. “Oh, and now you’re really squishing down that play-doh!” or “You’re putting the red block on the purple block!” This describing can feel unnatural at first, but the more you practice, the easier it feels. Especially when you mix it in with #3.
Specific praise:
My favorite component of CDI - providing direct praise of the child’s behaviors. “I love how you’re playing with the animals so gently.” “You’re doing such a great job of keeping the play doh on the table.” “Thank you so much for putting the lid on the marker when you’re finished - you’re so thoughtful!”
PCIT Goals and Purpose:
Per the CEBC, the goals of the Child Directed Interactions are as follows:
Build close relationships between parents and their children using positive attention strategies
Help children feel safe and calm by fostering warmth and security between parents and their children
Increase children’s organizational and play skills
Decrease children’s frustration and anger
Educate parent about ways to teach child without frustration for parent and child
Enhance children’s self-esteem
Improve children’s social skills such as sharing and cooperation
Teach parents how to communicate with young children who have limited attention spans
Building Compliance with Parent Directed Interaction
During PDI, parents are taught how to give specific directions and praise for their child’s behavior, along with learning the evidence-based time out strategy. For many parents, we refer them out for the PDI, so that they can follow a specific PCIT model with PCIT trained therapists. At Compassionate Counseling St. Louis, we can give guidelines and can model CDI - but for some behaviors, you really want a certified PCIT provider.
When CDI is enough:
If our primary goal is to provide you with a quick tool for engaging with your child, having us explore and teach you CDI components can be helpful. This is great for parents who already have a pretty good relationship and attachment with your child, and can be a good add on for strong parenting.
When it’s not enough:
If your child’s behaviors are not responding to individual therapy plus practicing our homework, we would consider referring you out to a parent coach or PCIT therapist. But, many parents find that working on anxiety and anger management in here curbs the behaviors.
(Want to work with a Registered Play Therapist in St. Louis? Reach out here!)
To officially be a registered play therapist, you need to go through extensive training and supervision. RPT’s are AMAZING. We incorporate tons of play into our work with pre-schoolers and early elementary school kiddos, and we (come Fall 2021) we have a registered play therapist on staff!
We tailor our approach to each individual client and family we work with. That means, for some kids, we focus much more on building our anxiety and anger management skills through play.
Curious to know more about how play therapists work with anxiety and anger management? Wondering if your angry child needs a play therapist or a counselor who knows how to integrate play into what they do? Set up a free phone consultation with Compassionate Counseling St. Louis right here on our website - www.compassionatecounselingstl.com/consult
We work with kids, teens and families throughout St. Louis, including Ladue, Town and Country, Creve Couer, Brentwood and Webster Groves.