Chapter 3: Teaching Behavioural Therapy Play Skills

Goals of Play Therapy Improvement of child’s self esteemImprovement of child’s self esteem Improvement of parent-child relationshipImprovement of parent-child relationship Increases play times for childrenIncreases play times for children Desceases oppositional behaviourDesceases oppositional behaviour Improves frustration tolerance and perfectionismImproves frustration tolerance and perfectionism

Child-directed Play 5 minutes each day for the child to lead the activity5 minutes each day for the child to lead the activity Children need not be taught anythingChildren need not be taught anything Parents are taught new “Don’t” and “Do” SkillsParents are taught new “Don’t” and “Do” Skills

Don’t Skills 1.Don’t give commands or make requests 2.Don’t ask questions (veiled commands) Most of parent’s conversations take this form Most of parent’s conversations take this form 3.Don’t criticize or correct in a negative way Desire for attention, be it positive or negative Desire for attention, be it positive or negative

Do Skills (D-R-I-P) 1.Describe appropriate behaviour 2.Reflect appropriate verbalizations With elaborations With elaborations 3.Imitate appropriate play 4.Praise prosocial behaviour Labeled praises Labeled praises

Strategic Attention, Selective Ignoring Using Do Skills reinforce desirable behaviours in the childUsing Do Skills reinforce desirable behaviours in the child Increase tendency of parent to reward child, “catch the child being good”Increase tendency of parent to reward child, “catch the child being good” Undesirable behaviours should be explicitly ignoredUndesirable behaviours should be explicitly ignored — No words or eye contact

Principles: Selective Ignoring 1.Use ignoring only for behaviours that child is using to attract negative attention 2.Beware the extinction burst: Ignored behaviours get worse before they get better 3.Ignoring requires follow-through

Beyond Ignoring… Some behaviours cannot be ignored because they are considered dangerousSome behaviours cannot be ignored because they are considered dangerous Restraint plus ignoring, then the cessation of playtimeRestraint plus ignoring, then the cessation of playtime Holding arms at the wrist, turing head for 20 secondsHolding arms at the wrist, turing head for 20 seconds

Modeling and Teaching Therapist will then model these skillsTherapist will then model these skills — Post-treatment video of other parents — Parent role-plays as child Sequentially build the “Do’s” skill setSequentially build the “Do’s” skill set Problem solving with parents to set a regular time for using play session skillsProblem solving with parents to set a regular time for using play session skills — Planned activity scheduling Parents given a homework sheetParents given a homework sheet

Chapter 4: Coaching Behaviour Play Therapy Skills

Parenting styles There are obviously many ways to parentThere are obviously many ways to parent Different interactional stylesDifferent interactional styles Coaching makes learning these skills faster and effectivelyCoaching makes learning these skills faster and effectively

Observing and Recording 5 minutes of (recorded) parent-child interaction near the beginning of a session5 minutes of (recorded) parent-child interaction near the beginning of a session Behaviour Play Therapy “gold standard” that parents are assessed againstBehaviour Play Therapy “gold standard” that parents are assessed against Table 4-2Table 4-2

Coaching qualitative aspects 1.Physical closeness and touching 2.Eye contact, facial expressions, vocal qualities 3.Turn taking, sharing, and polite manners 4.Developmentally sensitive teaching 5.Task persistence and frustration tolerance