This week I decided to try out a few recipes for homemade play dough that I could then keep in the office for clients. Homemade play dough is relatively inexpensive, non-toxic, and can be customized in lots of ways. I have worked with clients who were sensitive to artificial dyes, so homemade dough without color would be a great option for them to play with. If you don't need to worry about dye-sensitivity, you can color the play dough any color you want using food coloring. I also came … [Read more...]
Can Video Games Be Therapeutic?
As a therapist, have you ever considered using video games in therapy? Over the past few years, I have heard the idea of video games in therapy mentioned a few times and have become more and more interested. In discussing play therapy for home-based sessions, one colleague mentioned that he will sometimes use games on his cellphone as a way to engage with resistant clients or provide a reward and enjoyable activity at the end of a session. Attending a conference in Los Angeles a few years … [Read more...]
Feelings Games
In working with children, I have it can be very helpful to incorporate games and play into the therapy. Although I am not primarily a play therapist, I often utilize play therapy methods in to therapy with children. Because the needs of each client are different, it can be helpful to have a variety of different approaches, such as art, stories, or play therapy. In exploring feelings (or any other topic), one client may respond best to art therapy, one may prefer to just talk, and another … [Read more...]
Altered Images
A few weeks ago I shared about working on my Gluebook Goodness project from the Six Degrees of Creativity online workshop. This weekend I have been working on another workshop--The Altered Image by Fiona Fitzpatrick. I thought I would share some about my process so that others can try as well. This workshop involves altering a photograph by hand, not on the computer. In order to try your own altered image, get a photo that is printed on glossy paper. I printed my pictures out on my inkjet … [Read more...]
The Road of Your Life
This past week I have been on the road a lot, moving from California to Texas. With this journey on my mind, I thought I would share about an art therapy intervention to represent one's life like a road. Draw the Road of Your Life I usually give the client a prompt that goes something like this: "Imagine your life is like a journey along a road. Draw a picture to represent what this road would look like. Think about the the important events that have happened so far and where you hope to be … [Read more...]