PSYC-201 Lecture Notes - John March, Play Therapy
Document Summary
Children come to therapy with different personalities and different problems, and at different ages, so we need to decide what is the best way of working with each individual child. With some children we may choose to be active and direct in our approach, whereas with others a gentle self-discovery style may be more useful. However, regardless of the differences between children and any difference in working style, there are a number of basis child counselling skills which are generally useful. Counselling skills need to be relevant for the various stages of the therapeutic process. Observation begins in the joining phase when the counsellor observes the child"s relationship with their parents, the ease with which the child separates from their parents and the child"s general behavior. The observed information is valuable in helping the counsellor to make a decision as to how to proceed.
