Turning Points in Play Therapy and the Emergence of Self by Lorri Yasenik

Author:Lorri Yasenik
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781784507473
Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Published: 2018-10-03T16:00:00+00:00

Turning point 3: grandfather is dead

After the fire and death play, Corrie played several sessions around the themes of competency, security, and self-empowerment. While still using toys for this play, Corrie shifted to including me more and more in role playing. Embracing the deeper level of safety and connection in the playroom, the third turning point soon occurred and Corrie had sufficient courage to face the death of her grandfather/caretaker. As she had me play the dead grandfather by lying on the floor, she repeatedly “doctored” me, but session after session she failed. Corrie valiantly attempted to “save me.” She wrapped my head with a long ace-bandage and gave me shots and other medical care. But she could not save me. My previous experience with children who had me die in the playroom was that they told me to come back to life at the end of the session. Not Corrie: I was dead, really dead. Of course, as a play therapist I was able to be a talking dead person. I reflected how important it was for her to try to help me, how she tried everything she could to help me, that I was “so sick” and she was “so brave.” I was challenging her misbelief that, somehow, someone could have saved her grandfather.

These three sessions were primarily in Quadrant I: Active Utilization, my playing the role of the grandfather (by her direction, not mine), using some expanding reflections about how much she wanted me (grandfather) so much and she (the doctor) tried so hard (Yasenik and Gardner, 2004). Using Immersion levels 1.2 Reflecting and Tracking Statements and 1.3 Restating Content continued as I joined her in the struggle of understanding death (Appendix A).

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