Exploring Imagination: Play Therapy via Teletherapy

As our country continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, organizations, companies, hospital systems, and corporations have all been impacted one way or another. No matter the size of the business, there has been one essential question asked over and over again. The questions is, “How do we continue to provide the best care possible in these unique and challenging times?” As an essential business, here at Stenzel, this is a question we have been addressing for several weeks now. The directors, clinical supervisors, and therapists have adapted practices to continue to meet the needs of our clients. Continuing to provide care to our youngest clients via teletherapy is just one-way Stenzel has been adapting to change.

It was just a few weeks ago, where all of our play therapists joined together to brainstorm ways to continue to offer play therapy to our clients via teletherapy. It’s awesome to be part of a team that works great together with the purpose of continuing to provide our youngest clients with excellent care. One might think it’s not possible to do play therapy over teletherapy, but here are just some ideas our team came up with. The opportunities are endless when imagination is set free to run wild.

Continued opportunities for play therapy:

1. Processing grief and loss

• This truly is a unique time for children and teens. Never in the history of our country have schools been closed nationwide for such an extended period of time. Here in Illinois, the governor just canceled in-person classes for the remainder of the school year. Living under a shelter-in-place order for multiple weeks means that there are many things that kids can’t do anymore. Some of my younger clients are really sad about not being able to play with their friends or participate in sports or clubs. Some of my teenage clients are really sad about not being able to finish off their senior year of high school with their friends or walk across the graduation stage as they get their diplomas. Processing this sense of loss is important to help lower the client’s anxiety.
• Not being able to spend direct face-to-face time with grandparents, aunts or uncles, friends, or even the child’s therapist, can also evoke a sense of loss. Taking time to acknowledge this and exploring how this situation makes the client feel can teach them how to process painful emotions. Increasing a client’s self-awareness of their emotional state can lower their sense of powerlessness in difficult situations.

2. Incorporate the child’s home environment to model and teach mindfulness techniques

• Incorporating a child’s home environment is an excellent way to teach new coping skills and mindfulness techniques. Having the child explore what is in their room with the therapist via teletherapy is an excellent way to teach some new skills the child can use during this challenging time.
• The therapist can use the child’s toys at home to teach mindfulness skills like 5-4-3-2-1, Alligator Breath, Butterfly Breaths, 4-Square Breathing, etc. If a child can connect a coping skill to a specific toy they have at home, there is a higher chance of them using the skill when they are in distress.Storytelling:

3. Storytelling

• Storytelling is another way for the child to express their internal world through a creative avenue. The therapist and child can use puppets, stuffed animals, or dolls to create a story. In my experience, I have often seen the story have a direct relation to the child’s current or recent life experience. Through storytelling, the child can choose to create a world where they have a greater sense of control, which can lower their anxiety.

4. Create together

• Creating things together builds trust and connection between the child and their therapist and this is something that can be done via teletherapy. Using LEGOS, Mega Blocks, Duplos, or Lincoln Logs are all toys that can be used to create sets. It is not necessary for both the child and therapist to have the same exact building toys. If the therapist has the toys, the child can guide the therapist in creating something and vice-versa. Creating sets with toys over teletherapy also helps develop communication skills and frustration tolerance.
• Artwork is another activity that both the client and therapist can do together. For example, one of our play therapists, Kyle, paints Dungeon and Dragon miniatures with one of his clients. Both Kyle and his client have their own miniatures and paint supplies and they both can engage in the activity from separate locations.

5. Playing games together

• Believe it or not, playing games via teletherapy is possible too. Games like Battleship, Phase 10, or Spot It are just three examples. For example, in Phase 10 and Battle Ship, both the client and therapist need to have a physical copy of the game at their location, The game, Spot It, only requires one person to have it. I was playing Phase 10 with one of my younger clients this week and as I was winning, the client was becoming more upset. This gave me an opportunity to work on increasing his ability to handle his frustration in a healthy way.

6. Check-in sessions with parents

• Last but not least, teletherapy provides a great opportunity for the parents to check-in with the therapist about how their child is doing in therapy. The therapist can teach the parents some of the skills their child is learning so that parents can also take an active approach in helping their child. This is also a good opportunity for the therapist and parents to talk about progress and goals for the future as well.

There is no limit to imagination and creativity and this list could be much longer. Imagination builds confidence in the child. Something that seemed impossible has become achievable through the willingness to explore new opportunities. Teletherapy can provide some unique opportunities for the child and therapist to strengthen the therapeutic relationship and move towards progress. If your child was seeing a therapist prior to the shelter-in-place executive order and has since stopped therapy altogether, I encourage you to think about helping your child re-engage in therapy. Reach out to your therapist and ask them if they offer teletherapy. Check-in with your child and get a sense of how they are handling these unique and challenging times.

Here at Stenzel, 100% of our therapists have the ability to do teletherapy sessions on a secure HIPAA compliant platform through our Electronic Health Record (EHR). Several therapists continue to offer in-person sessions as well. We have adapted our hygiene practices to mitigate risk to our clients as well. We remain open and focused on providing the best possible therapeutic care to kids, teens, and adults. If you have questions about play therapy and teletherapy please don’t hesitate to reach out to me, you can email at alexg@stenzelclinical.com. If you want to schedule a session, please feel free to call our intake team.