I treat children with a combination of contextual family therapy, Mindfulness Based Play-Family Therapy, Synergetic Play Therapy, Somatic Therapy, the Safe and Sound Protocol, and mindfulness and meditation. We start each session with our Hooray of the Day to bring our awareness to our positive experiences and help our brains develop the habit of considering what we feel grateful for. We then focus on our current emotions, how they feel in our bodies and how our thoughts, behaviors and emotions influence each other. We follow this with a family talk time during which we discuss the realities of family, community and school life. We always include a mindfulness meditation to calm and focus our energies. Our goals include developing and improving parent/child communication and achieving relational healing within the family system.
After our mindfulness exercise, the child and I move to my play therapy room or the sandtray room, safe, comfortable spaces stocked with carefully chosen items such as doll houses, miniatures, cars, magnets, sand, puppets, blocks and art materials that inspire the imagination. Because play is the natural language of children though which they process their world, I join the child in play, in their land of pretend. I follow where the child leads as they identify and work through their deepest issues, releasing what is holding them back from success and happiness. Subtle interventions help children learn to identify and regulate difficult feelings. Through this mindful process, children learn safe, productive emotional expression and achieve deep, personal healing.
I carry my impressions from play sessions into subsequent family talk times where the family can address the issues together, learn coping skills and plan behavioral interventions. At times I conduct parent sessions without the children to address such issues as parenting concerns, adult family dynamics and behavior plans. With written permission, I am willing to communicate with other professionals such as teachers and counselors to help address issues that are appearing in settings outside the home.
Building meditation into your child’s daily routine provides them with a lifelong skill that helps them cope with hard times and appreciate good ones. I encourage parents to explore this playlist with their children and learn to be mindful together.
Sometimes growing brains just can’t seem to calm down at bedtime and little ones fight to stay awake when all parents want is an hour or two of adult time. I recommend a bedtime routine that ends with one of these soothing meditations.
(Warning: Parents may also drift off to sleep.)