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.

 

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.