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.

Lee Su (7) is a Chinese American. She has been referred for getting into repeated fights on the playground, which she has contended are started by other people. She arranges the green soldiers in one line and the tan soldiers in another line, and (with lots of sound effects – yelling ethnic slurs, screaming in pain) has the tan soldiers wipe out the green soldiers. As she is doing this, she seems to get angrier and angrier

Answer 1

With Lee Su (7) reflecting technique could be used to address her anger. She could be asked reflective questions as "It seems you feel angry", this would make her reflect her own emotion, and she would feel that there is somebody who understands her anger, her feelings. Instead of fixing the problems for children, it is necessary that their emotions and feelings need to be understood by the adults around them. This would give them confidence and high self esteem, also, they would talk about their problem givie them a self understanding of their probem.