Transcription:
The Theraplay Method: a Different Approach to Therapy

Carl Maronich (Host): And welcome to the Well Within Reach podcast. I'm Carl Maronich. And today we're going to be talking about Theraplay, a therapy for children. We'll learn more about that. And joining us to talk about that is Marla Barnard. Marla is with Riverside. Marla, welcome.

Marla Barnard, LCPC, MA.Ed (Guest): Thank you so much, Carl. I'm happy to be here.

Host: We're happy to have you and tell us a little bit about your background. Before we start talking about Theraplay.

Marla: My background is rooted in education. I am a licensed teacher with my master's degree in school administration. Spent about 15 years in the public school sector for school district 111, and then with a career change, I ended up at Pathways at Riverside Medical Center as a Clinical Case Manager. And I did that for about 10 years. And then the opportunity came to move to Pathways as the hospital school liaison. So I have also, my master's in counseling and I am a licensed therapist, Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor. Work a lot with kids, work a lot with adults.

Host: Very good. So as a hospital school liaison, it kind of says what it does. You are a liaison between the hospital and the school and doing what kinds of things?

Marla: For the kids who were admitted to the inpatient unit, and with the parents' consent, I communicate with the schools because a lot of the stressors come from the schools, a lot of the anxieties. So it's important to communicate with the schools. So I do that. And then also when school is in session, they have an opportunity to do some schoolwork and I get that as well for them, return it. So anything related to the school is what I would assist with, be the go between with.

Host: Yeah. And we're talking about the area of, of, behavioral medicine is the area that we're really talking about correct?

Marla: We sure are. And then also, like, it's just not enough when the kids are admitted because we'll get them for about two weeks. And then I will also follow up with the kids in the school. Again as a follow-up.

Host: Right. See how their progress is going. Well, so what we're here to talk about today is Theraplay. So tell us a little bit about what Theraplay is and eventually we'll get into kind of how that fits into all that we were just talking about.

Marla: So Theraplay is, I think everybody's familiar with therapy. When, you know, you talk with a counselor or you meet with someone and you talk about some things that you need to talk about, and there are different modalities. There are different types. And so Theraplay, is one of those therapies that involves the conscious effort to play. Now it's different. I think everybody's heard of art therapy. Maybe I don't wanna make assumptions, but you incorporate artwork into your therapies, therapies and other music therapy.

Absolutely. And so play therapy is a modality as well. But what this is, I think when people hear play therapy, they picture little kids playing in the sandbox while they're talking or playing with the doll figures. Okay, so Theraplay is different where as the kids will talk while they're not really paying attention to what they're saying. So they'll, talk about social appropriate relationships or their issues while they're playing. But the fundamental difference with Theraplay is they're actually doing it. They're playing and they're showing and modeling the positive, interactive relationships between the adults and the child.

And so they're learning, about those appropriate relationships because attachment issues are rooted in Theraplay where the kids who just didn't make a strong connection to the primary caregiver. And they really don't know how to have that appropriate connection with adults. So that is what Theraplay does. It really, builds on that positive relationship between adult caregiver and themselves. And also with each other.

Host: Yeah. I would guess kind of the idea behind it as well. They're playing while they're, well, they're not thinking specifically about what they're supposed to be talking about, their guard is down and that's not what I mean the best phrase to use, but they're more at ease. So therefore the conversations about these things are more easily had, is that accurate?

Marla: I think that's very accurate because when we play, we're relaxed, there's joy. And so not everybody knows how to play. There are adults that really don't know how to play. They're great at working. But where's the balance. And so if they don't know how to play, where's the joy that a lot of that gets lost.

Host: Yeah. So what ages are involved in Theraplay?

Marla: Any age, but for this, Theraplay, which originated, kind of got its roots from the Chicago Headstart program back in 1967. And there was a woman by the name of Ann Jernberg, who really is considered the creator of Theraplay. And it started in a counseling session between a therapist and the client. So if you and I were in an older Theraplay session, we would just be playing, we would clap our hands. We would tap, we would play catch with a feather or a balloon.

We would find a way to just play. So that then evolved into bringing that into groups and then in school settings and any age from six to five to 10, so whatever, but any age can work, but in a group setting, but the primary need is the committed adult who will lead the play because it's gotta be led by an adult. And it's not like kickball or dodgeball in the gym where we're playing and there's going to be a winner. The goal is everyone's playing together.

Host: It's more like an activity as opposed to a game where there's a competition.

Marla: Yes. Because right, because game implies you win. I lose. And the idea is to build the connection, the positive relationship.

Host: There's something in my notes about sunshine circles. What is that? And how does that factor into Theraplay?

Marla: Well, the sunshine circles are what we were talking about earlier where kids would go to therapy clinic, or a counseling center. And then the sunshine circles actually take place in the schools or in the community center with a group of people. And it's a group format, whereas the original was kind of a one-to-one, but now the sunshine circles, activate promote a group format for schools and again, focusing on the development of healthy peer relationships because sometimes kids who struggle, they struggle with peers. They struggle socially. They're misunderstood. So we're helping them to engage appropriately with each other.

Host: Yeah. So, there are both individual sessions, if we want to use that term and group sessions as well, but both have their benefits.

Marla: Yes. But Theraplay now is more in a group setting.

Host: Yeah. You mentioned, you know, different kinds of activities and such, and is direct parent involvement in Theraplay?

Marla: When it first started, you would try in the Theraplay session would bring in the parent and the child and you would get them kind of interacting, trying to connect to each other. But in the Theraplay way, the parents are not involved. This could happen at school. This could happen in a communication center, but the parents are absolutely involved in the sense that yes, my child is allowed to participate in Theraplay.

Host: Sure. You've been involved in education for a number of years as you mentioned when you started, how have you seen the need for these kinds of things and the kinds of issues you're seeing with kids change over the years that you've been involved?

Marla: What I'm seeing is the increase in social isolation, especially now that we have social media and kids will just isolate in the rooms on social media, all these different sites that they can go to. And even in terms of the way they like, I'll have kids say to me, well, I had a conversation with so and so, and then we kind of parted ways, but in the conversation they never had a conversation, but they think they had a conversation, so

Host: Because it was a texting situation.

Marla: A texting situation or, yes, a social media or something from someone else in, and that's really problematic for the kids and they don't realize how important interacting and connecting with someone is, and even the significance of appropriate touch, like just to pat a kid on the arm or to things that they don't always, get. So in that context, there's such a need to learn how to play. I mean, everybody's task oriented and kind of losing the joy.

Host: So that the social isolation, as you mentioned, how is that manifesting itself in kids and their behaviors and such and, you know, how are you seeing that now compared to 30 years, 20 years ago?

Marla: We see increased depression, increased anxiety as measured by. We're never interested in comparing any child to another child. We'll use that child as the baseline. So we only compare that child to that child. And so all of a sudden, if they used to get A's and B's or Bs and Cs, or now they're just getting all zeros or D's and F's, we just think their level of functioning is changing.

And so if they used to hang out with this group of friends, but now they have no friends, their level of functioning is changing. So we're seeing more and more isolation, and getting them to put down a phone is a real difficult task at times. So we just see the increase in just withdrawing and isolating. And that's very concerning to parents and they'll call us and say, I don't know what to do, or in an inpatient setting or as well as an outpatient setting, so.

Host: Yeah. Well, I, and I think as you said, that that isolation then leads to lack of socialization, which leads to not learning different things or experiencing, or being able to cope with certain things because you haven't been exposed to it.

Marla: Right. And stress shows itself in many different levels, so much so that kids aren't even aware that they're stressed.

Host: Yeah. And I would guess, that we're seeing kids with cell phones and other devices much younger than we used to, which leads to some of these issues perhaps earlier in their development, which again, probably leads to other issues.

Marla: I would agree with that. And I'm, no expert in the field of all the data and the specific numbers, but we know that there has been an increase in the isolation and the anxiety and the depression and the social anxiety. It's getting, for some kids, it's so severe that they just won't even go to school. So then truancy becomes an issue. And then that just leads to more stress. And I'm not saying that this all gets fixed in one session of Theraplay, let's go and play together, but it sure helps on a consistent basis that they're learning that there's something more. There's learning just positive attachments because not all kids get that.

Host: Sure. So let's talk a little bit about that. If someone's child's having these issues and Theraplay looks like it could be a benefit; what would their journey through Theraplay look like? How would it start? And is it a weekly, daily, monthly, how would it progress?

Marla: Now in the outpatient program at Pathways, we actually incorporate it into our schedule at least once a week. And the kids like it, we're going to play today. They really like that. So for us, it's once a week, at least once a week and then it's for an hour at a time and it's very structured. It's very regimented. Because they need the structure and so it's the same. So that continuity.

Host: And this is a relatively new thing that Riverside has been involved in in that right?

Marla: Very new. Our second day of training was in November and then, we started right away. I think we finished on a Monday and then we incorporate it on a Thursday. It's like, let's just do this.

Host: Yeah. So even though it's new, you've been doing it, you been able to see already some benefits in how it's helping kids.

Marla: Sure. And I would say so because at least for that hour, they're positive with each other and they're engaged and they're laughing, because initially there's a little resistance on day one's like, we're not doing this, come on. And it's all fun. And now when we say, hey, we get to play today. They're all in.

Host: So a parent would hear about this possibly first at school and kind of develop it from there is that?

Marla: I would think so because, we're not a Theraplay Institute. We incorporate Theraplay into our therapy sessions. So at the school level, I think a parent would hear about this from school. And that is something that they could research or they could Google. And if that's something that would like to do, then it's just one of the therapies that we use to help kids with their connections and their struggles.

Host: So parent could look through, look at theraplay.com or their website and get more information there. They can go to the Riverside website, look to Pathways, get information there, and you have some other contact information as well.

Marla: Well, our director at Pathways is Rachel LaGesse and they could absolutely call and she would set up an appointment. But one of the things I want to be clear about is this is a program. At Pathways, it's an outpatient program where the kids who come, who have been struggling, they're usually with us for about four weeks, three to four weeks. So within their time with us, their programming at Pathways, we incorporate Theraplay as one of the strategies. So I wouldn't want anyone to be confused. Like, oh, I want my child to go have Theraplay and then they can go once every, you know, every Tuesday.

Host: It's part of the whole program through Pathways. Gotcha. But if they do want to connect with Pathways, they can do that by calling Rachel?

Marla: Yes, Rachel LaGesse, 779-701- 2000.

Host: Okay. And that's Rachel LaGesse.

Marla: Rachel LaGesse is our Director and she's the one who makes the appointments, schedules the intakes. Kind of makes the appropriate fit and the match and the timing.

Host: Yeah and you can also search through Theraplay, Google it and go to their site and find out more also the Riverside website, pathways page, you can get some information there as well.

Marla: And I would like to add that for parents who are struggling with their kids, there's help. There's so many services that Riverside offers and provides, and there is the right fit and sometimes it's just pursuing and persevering and talking to the right person for the fit, but there's so much that is offered to our community.

Host: Yeah. When a parent, when, when you have a child who's struggling, is a hugely difficult thing. And at times it may feel like there's no help in sight or no way to get through this, but, but there are.

Marla: And in addition to that, an old stigma that you should handle these things in-house, you shouldn't, we shouldn't need to get help, but it's not necessary to struggle alone anymore. That's one of the things that I'm just so proud of to be associated with Riverside is the difference that we get to make in the community and how we get to help people when they come to us.

Host: Yeah. The old school idea of oh just suck it up and get through you, more damage will be done that way then, then really getting help the earlier you get help the better. Oh, right. All right. Well, Marla, thanks so much for joining us and telling us about the Theraplay.

Marla: I'm so happy that you asked me to come. Thank you, Carl.

Host: You're welcome. And this is Well Within Reach podcast.