Values Checklist

A checklist to help clients/patients identify their values.

Download Values Checklist

Adolescent Therapy That Really Works

Resource for those working with adolescents.

Adolescent Therapy That Really Works by Janet Sasson Edgette

http://www.amazon.com/Adolescent-Therapy-That-Really-Works/dp/0393705005/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1287959401&sr=8-1

School Age Art and Play Directives

By Linda Chapman, ATR_BS, RPT-S

 

Complete a Picture (work in pairs, have one start and another finish)

Draw a scene about something or someone you hate or are jealous of

Draw a scene of the last time you cried

Me Mobile (coat hanger with collage from magazine pictures of things that represent who

you are)

Take a Trip (draw 5 or 6 things that you would want to take to Jupiter)

Draw favorite childhood toy

Draw scene of earliest memory

Draw a scene from fairy tale or story that you have much in common with

Draw scene of self as baby, now and in the future

Draw scene of having three wishes

Draw self as animal

Draw animal you would most like to be

Draw what a Saturday night at home is like

Create a personal collage (this is great with a junior higher, bring in a big poster board

and lots of magazines or have them cut things out at home and bring them in. They can work creatively while the kinesthetic movements allow them to open up and talk to you about their day, their week, their life, or why the pictures on the page are important to them and their sense of self)

Incorporate a word into a picture

Draw self doing favorite thing

With Clay, create a creature

With clay, sculpt something that is a symbol of self and one thing that symbolizes every member of family

 

Mandalas

Mandalas

 

[ originally from http://www.arttherapyblog.com/art-therapy-activities/making-mandala-art-for-self-discovery-and-healing/#more-44 ]

 

The core of mandala designs is the circle. You are not bound by any particular colors or materials to create your mandala art, so let your feelings and instincts guide you through the creative process.

 

Decide What Art Materials You Need

 

You will first need to select your drawing materials. Again, you are not limited here…some ideas to help you get started might be markers, watercolors, pastels, colored pencils, oils, etc. You will also need something to draw or paint on like a piece of paper, canvas, poster board, or anything else you can think of. I would suggest something around the size of 12×18 inches. If you have a compass lying around (or anything that will help you draw a circle), that would be helpful as well. Hint: you can use anything round and solid…a cup, a pan, or anything else that will help you draw nice clean circles.

 

A Good Location Is Important

 

It is also recommended that you create your mandala in a space that provides the least amount of distractions. The experience is meant to be a personal one. Unless, of course, you are participating in a group mandala.

 

Let Your Feelings & Emotions Inspire You

 

Again, there are no rules or constrictions with regard to mandala designs. You don’t have to use only circles, though your art should have some semblance of a circular design. Otherwise, you can do whatever strikes you. In fact, it’s encouraged to let your feelings inspire your mandala art and designs.

 

Your finished mandala will represent and reflect who you were at the time of creation. If you want, you can give your mandala a title and date of creation.

 

Now That You’ve Finished Your Mandala Art Activity

 

Once you’ve finished your mandala art activity, take note of the colors you used. Recognize, maybe even write down, what the predominant colors are in your mandala. Also take note of the least-used color(s). Now look at the images and shapes you’ve created. Take notice of any hard and soft lines, jagged or smooth edges. Are there any areas of high contrast? Now write down, in detail, your feelings and/or memories when you think about the colors, shapes, images, and designs on your mandala. You should be able to make some connections between your mandala and the feelings and emotions that you experienced while creating it.

 

This is meant to be a very personal and introspective activity and process, so the results are bound to vary. Again, it’s important to recognize that your mandala is a symbol, a reflection, of who you were when you created it. Ideally, the process of creating the mandala results in some form of self-healing, self-expression, and/or self-exploration.

 

Good Luck!

 

Mandala Template

 

Where Do You Feel It?

by Angelique Bagley, LMFT

 

Purpose: Learn to identify different emotions and the connection to how they are physically felt in one’s body.

Modality: Individual, Group, or Family

Age Range: 5 – Adult

Materials:

1) rough outline of a body on a sheet of regular paper, or person can outline themselves

on a sheet of butcher paper

2) round stickers found at an office supply store

Description: Clients often describe that they “suddenly” feel angry, fearful, or sad. Often, there are early warning signals from the body before the client has the thought “I am angry.” This exercise is designed to help them identify early signals from their body so that they may make good use of coping skills to calm down.

Have the client think about a time when they were mad. Give them examples of where they might feel it in their body (i.e. fists clenched, jaw clenched, muscles tense, etc). Ask them to place the round stickers (small ones for a small sheet of paper, large ones if it is a life-size drawing) on the parts of their body that they feel mad in. Discussion can center on paying attention to the early warning signs and identifying positive coping skills to help diffuse the feelings before they have erupted.

An adaptation of this exercise is to use different color stickers for different feelings. The client may have sweaty palms when they are angry, but get a stomachache when they are afraid. The client assigns a feeling to a color

(red = anger, yellow = nervous, purple = fear). In addition, this exercise may be used to explore feelings related to a specific traumatic event. (i.e. witnessing domestic violence). Discussion can center on having multiple feelings about an event and the places you may feel the feelings. This may also lead to an age-appropriate discussion about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms that they might be dealing with as well.

Angelique Bagley is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in private practice and MFT supervisor for Teen and Family Counseling Center in San Jose, California with over 15 years experience working with children and families. Angelique specializes in working with children with multiple traumas using play therapy to help heal their wounds. She enjoys introducing people to the joys of working with children in therapy through her supervision with interns and in trainings to licensed professional, interns, and trainees. She is a past president of CALAPT and a current Member-At-Large for the CALAPT Board of Directors.

 

Squiggles Your Feeling Group

by Tracy Schroeder, MSW, LCSW

 

 

Purpose: Social skills development; emotional expression; increasing insight

 

Modality: Group

 

Age Range: 10 years – Adolescents

 

Materials: Crayons, markers, paper

 

Background: I worked with adolescents in a locked psychiatric unit. They had a hard time trusting others and sharing about themselves. I use to do the squiggle game with my sister when I was young; never knowing it was used as a therapy technique with children. Donald Winnicott called the therapy technique “The Squiggle Game”.

 

Description: Give each person a piece of paper and a pencil. Have them draw a squiggle and then pass the paper to their right. Each person is asked to make a drawing to depict their feelings or what ever comes to their mind using the squiggle they received.

 

After they are finished, each participant shares their completed drawing with the group. If a client is resistant to share, another client in the group is asked to explain how that person’s picture makes them feel.

 

The therapist can gain great insight on how the group members work together and on the client’s individual problems and issues.

 

About the Author: Tracy Schroeder is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who currently serves as a Social Service Supervisor on a psychiatric unit. In addition, she has experience working as a therapist with children and adolescents. Tracy is serving as a Member-at-Large for the California Association for Play Therapy.

 

Group Flag

by Kate Rome, LMFT, PPS

 

Population: Groups, ages elementary school through adult, families, step-families, couples

 

Materials Needed: White poster board, markers, art materials

 

Directions:  At a session early in therapy, the therapist asks the people in the group or family to gather around the white poster board. The participants are directed to come up with both a group name and images that represent what is positive about the group, and with these ideas, they are asked to create a group flag. They work on this for as long as the therapist deems necessary/practical.  Once finished, each of the group members shares his or her experience in the flag-making process.

The flag is then kept by the therapist and, if appropriate, brought out and displayed during every group meeting.

 

Purpose: The purpose of this intervention is two-fold. First, the group works together to create a tangible representation of itself and gives itself a name and an identity. This idea fosters cohesion, identity and pride for the group members. It gives the group a chance to get to know each other through a directed project and to have a finished product that can be brought out and referred to throughout the group process. Creating a positive identity can be especially beneficial for families that are struggling or step-families that are trying to blend. Secondly, the therapist may gain important information about the group dynamics, strengths and difficulties by watching how they manage this task. It also gives the therapist a tool to refer to and bounce off of in the group work to follow.

 

About the Author: Kate Rome is a licensed MFT and credentialed school counselor (PPS) who has worked extensively with children and families in a variety of settings. Kate is currently employed as Adjunct Faculty at John F. Kennedy University, teaching graduate courses in play therapy and child abuse reporting. Kate has been actively involved with the California Association for Play Therapy since 2003 and has served both locally and on the Executive Board of Directors.

 

Family Clay Play

by Kate Rome, LMFT

 

Purpose: Improve & strengthen family communication patterns

Modality: Family

Age Range: 4 years – Adults

Materials: Model Magic™, clay, Play-Doh®, or other clay-type material

Description: By the time families arrive at therapy, they often have difficulty connecting and communicating. The intervention, “Family Clay Play”, has proven to be an excellent technique to facilitate dialogue and understanding.

The intervention begins with family members selecting whatever colors of clay they would like. Model Magic is a versatile and appealing medium to use, but any clay material will work.

Once the clay has been selected, the family is given different directives including such things as make a gift for other family members of something you think the person needs, create a symbol for the family, or make a representation of a worry they have about the family.

When family members are finished, each member is given the opportunity to share their creation and receive feedback from others in the family.

The playfulness of the clay, as well as the experience of working with the material, often lowers defenses and opens up channels of communication that had previously been stuck.

About the Author

Kate Rome is a licensed MFT and credentialed school counselor (PPS) who has worked extensively with children and families in a variety of settings. Kate is currently employed as Adjunct Faculty at John F. Kennedy University, teaching graduate courses in play therapy and child abuse reporting. Kate has been actively involved with CALAPT since 2003 and has served both locally and on the Executive Board of Directors.

Care Tags

By Myrysha Rosa, MSW

 

Theme: Feeling Expression & Communication

Recommended Age Range: Teens & Adults

Treatment Modality: Individual

Goals

* Increase self awareness

* Improve positive and clear communication

* Increase ability to appropriately express needs

 

Materials

* Construction paper cut in the shape of a tag (see example)

 

Description

The therapist begins with a discussion of how everyone expresses his or her feelings differently (give examples: “Some people cry when they are sad, some shut down, others look/act angry”). Additionally, different people want/need different things when they feel different emotions (give examples: “Some people want to be left alone when they are sad, others want a hug or to talk”). Begin to process how everyone is different, and that we cannot assume that everyone knows what we are feeling, or knows what we need from them. Explain that people are not like clothes or other things that come with care tags or instruction manuals.

The therapist then explains the activity as follows:

Wouldn’t be nice if everyone came with a care tag that told others exactly how to take care of them (give examples of clothing care tags such as “Delicate,” “Dry clean only,” “Handle with care”). In order to do that, we first need to understand the link between our own behaviors, feelings, and needs. We are going to create several care tags that will help you better understand your feelings, communicate to others what you are feeling, and identify what you need from them (or yourself) when you are feeling that way.On the back of each care tag, you can draw a picture that either represents that feeling or something that makes you feel that way.

 

Each care tag will say.  “When I _________ (behavior, action or situation)_________ , I am feeling __________ (emotion)________,

and I need __________.”

 

Discussion

For many clients this can be a very difficult activity. Have the client begin with a feeling with which they are comfortable before moving on to more intense or sensitive emotions. This activity also works well if the client has entered the session expressing a problem that easily fits this format (i.e.: “I had a really bad day at school yesterday and I just needed a little time alone, but my mom wanted me to go with her to the store”). The therapist can then work with the client to break this down on the care tag (“How would your mom know you were mad?”). It is generally easier for the client to start with the feeling, then move to how others will know when they are feeling that emotion, and end with what they need. When completed, discuss the possibility of sharing these care tags with their parents.  If possible, and if the client is in agreement, arrange for the parents to join the session and support the client in sharing the care tags.

This activity easily adapts to family sessions, with each family member creating their own “tags” and then sharing them with the family.