Question

For each of the following scenarios, decide which of the play therapy skills described in the Vernon text (tracking, restating content, reflecting feelings, returning responsibility to the child, using the child’s metaphor, and limit setting) you would use to respond to the child. Generate several different responses to each one, remembering that you can combine several kinds of skills in a single response.

Christina, an 8-year-old whose presenting problem is anxiety and depression, begins to draw a picture, turns to you, and says, “I am going to paint this picture for you. What do you want me to paint?”

Answer 1

Christina, an 8-year-old whose presenting problem is anxiety and depression, begins to draw a picture, turns to you, and says, “I am going to paint this picture for you. What do you want me to paint?”

I would return the responsibility to the child by saying, “You could choose whatever you want to draw from things you see here but make sure to reflect how you feel in the picture”. In this scenario, I’m using returning the responsibility back to the child, asking her to reflect her feeling and limiting the setting.