Child Therapy & Adolescent Psychotherapy

PP 8401

Child Therapy & Adolescent Psychotherapy

Spring 2009

INSTRUCTOR:

Myra M. Lawrence, Psy.D.

PHONE:

63--571-1110

EMAIL: or

FAX:

630-571-5751 and 708-524-0777

ALT PHONE:

630-571-1110

REQUIRED TEXTS:

Title / Dibs in Search of Self
Author(s) / Axline
Copyright
Publisher / Ballantine Books
ISBN / 345339258
Edition
Title / Building the Bonds of Attachment
Author(s) / Hughes, D.A.
Copyright
Publisher / Jason Aronson
ISBN / 765702371
Edition
Title / The Developing Mind
Author(s) / Daniel J. Siegel
Copyright
Publisher / The Guilford Press
ISBN / 978-1572304536
Edition

This Course Does Not Require the Purchase of a Course Packet:

Myra M. Lawrence, Psy.D.

PP 8401 Play, Child Therapy & Adolescent Psychotherapy

Spring 2009

ASPP:

Voice Mail: 1-630-571-1110

e-mail:

Fax: 708 – 524 – 0777

Office Hours: Monday 9:00-9:30 a.m., and 12:00-1:00 p.m.

Tuesday 9:00-10:30 a.m., and 12:00-1:00 p.m.

Wednesday 12:00-1:00 p.m.

Please schedule all office hours

Course Description

Play, child therapy and adolescent psychotherapy will be explored focusing on non-directive play approaches: sand tray techniques, dynamic play therapy modalities and interactive interpretations, each grounded in evidence-based practice*. The materials will be presented in the context of understanding the development of attachment relationships and the ways in which children, adolescents and their parents are able to construct coherent narratives that integrate life experience. Therefore, the ways in which therapists support the development of attachment relationships and behaviors will be highlighted.

Consideration of presenting issues, treatment alliances, rapport, work with parents, and how to formulate and present interventions will be an ongoing part of class discussions. Particular attention will be addressed to a psychodynamic understanding of child therapy, play therapy, treatment of abused children, and trans-cultural issues as these pervasively impact treatment with ethnic minority children and adolescents. Broad considerations pertinent to working with parents and consulting with school and other professionals will be outlined and practiced.

[*All topics and readings are based on evidence-based practices as substantiated by research with respect to each specific treatment approach. Further, readings and treatment approaches are endorsed by the Association for Play Therapy which supports an evidence-based approach to play therapy with children and adolescents. For further information about evidence-based approaches to child and adolescent treatment please review these web sites: HYPERLINK "http://www.ebbp.org/index.hml" http://www.ebbp.org/index.hml and HYPERLINK "http://www.a4pt.org" http://www.a4pt.org].

Assignments

Assignments will include opportunities to lead class discussions with your study group, teach one segment of a class on a topic of your choice, and write one academic and one academic/clinical paper. An emphasis on scholarship and accurate use of APA citation and publication guidelines is required. Regular participation in which you relate your clinical experiences to topics under discussion and demonstrate familiarity with each week’s readings is expected.

All assignments will be due on the date specified unless extraordinary circumstances exist.

Assignment #1 – 10 Points. Teaching Opportunity

Due on week you are assigned to teach a 30 minute class segment

Please select a topic that focuses on approaches to treating one of the following presenting problems or approaches to treatment.

Self-mutilation; substance abuse; eating disorders; bereavement; divorce; school phobia; eneuresis/encopresis; self-regulatory disorders; selective mutism; Asperger’s syndrome, youth violence; pre-teen and teen sexual precocity, filial therapy, dyadic therapy, EMDR, etc.

[You may select another topic, but you are encouraged to select material for presentation that is not included in the class syllabus]

Prepare a written description of your topic [3 – 5 pages maximum] to be distributed to all class participants. You will be given 30 minutes to teach this material to the class. The intentions of this assignment are 1) to provide everyone an opportunity to teach, and 2) to introduce a broader variety of topics for class consideration and discussion than can be offered in the syllabus.

Identify and notify me about the topic on which you will present by Week # 2. You will each then be assigned a week later in the semester during which you will present your material.

Assignment #2 Mid-term – 35 Points. Due Week #7

The mid-term paper is intended to establish the foundation for your final paper where you will prepare a clinical case analysis of a child or adolescent you are or have previously treated. The final paper is expected to emphasize your work with a particular type of disorder or your selection of a particular treatment approach that you used with this patient.

Therefore, for the mid-term paper, you will prepare a 6 – 8 page academic paper [using appropriate scholarly references and applying APA style as described in the most current Publications Manual] that describes either the childhood disorder of the patient with whom you are working or the treatment approach that is being offered. Please be sure to select the most material available in the literature to describe the disorder or the treatment approach.

This paper will be evaluated with respect to conceptual integration of related materials, your ability to establish a clear perspective on the disorder or treatment approach selected, your ability to incorporate current and/or best known materials that pertain to your topic, and your ability to prepare a paper that complies with APA standards.

Assignment #3 – Final Paper 45 Points. Due Week #13

Select a treatment case of a child or adolescent for presentation. Thoroughly describe the background information and a synopsis of central treatment elements. Review this material with respect to 1) the diagnosis, its manifestations and characteristics (in general and in this case) and 2) the treatment approach/intervention employed (be specific and cite examples). Analyze and discuss the success and/or limitations of the approach you applied in working with this client. In this paper you want to demonstrate sound conceptual understanding of the therapy process and its elements.

Assignment #4 – 10 Points. Due the weeks your group presents to the class

There will be four working groups with approximately three (3) students in each group. You are not expected to outline the chapters or articles we are reading. Rather, your group is expected to introduce the main concepts and primary issues and present these as these relate to treatment issues with which you are familiar (e.g., patients you are or have treated, issues that you believe we should be thinking about in psychotherapy, etc.). Your role is not to read to the class but to facilitate class discussion about the material we are reading.

Evaluation – Grading Criteria

As noted in each description of the assignments, your work will be evaluated with respect to the range and depth of relevant sources reviewed and analyzed for each assignment. Your capacity to identify and meaningfully link related perspectives, theoretical constructs, and clinical material will serve to demonstrate the level of conceptual sophistication at which this work is understood. Particularly for assignments 1 and 2, which are primarily academic papers, be sure to select for inclusion the ideas of those authors who are considered expert in the topics which you are addressing. We will discuss this consideration in class.

Disability Statement: The policies of Argosy University/ISPP are described in detail at the end of this syllabus. Please let me know if I can be of help to you in this regard.

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Required Books:

Axline, Dibs in Search of Self

Hughes, D.A., Building the Bonds of Attachment

Siegel, D.J. The Developing Mind

I recommend that you purchase those books on which we will most heavily rely. However, you are free to decide to copy for yourself any and all chapters from assigned texts and not purchase any books, if you prefer. This is arranged so that we can comply with copyright laws and still contain costs of materials which, as you are aware, are quite expensive. Please let me know whether this approach is successful and satisfactory for you.

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Week #1 – January 14th

Topic: Introduction to Child Therapy

Readings:

Axline, V.M. Dibs in search of self.

Siegel, D.J., “Attachment”, Ch. 3, pp. 67 – 120, [in The developing mind].

Week #2 – January 21st - - Group A

Topic: Engagement Process/ Play Process/Treatment Alliance with Children and their Parents/Ethnic & Cultural Considerations/ [This topic will be addressed each week throughout the semester].

Readings:

Axline, V.M. Play therapy, 3-50; 62-69; 73-75 [Principles of non-directive play therapy and elements involved in the attachment process].

Russ, S. “Fundamental play processes”, Ch. 1, pp. 1 – 7; “The role of play in therapy: The theories”, Ch. 3, pp. 34 – 65; and, “Teaching children to play”, Ch. 7, pp. 125 - 132; “The affect in play scale”, Ch. 5, pp. 79 – 114; and, “Appendix: Affect in play scale”, pp. 145 – 155;

Siegel, D.J. “Integration”, Ch. 9, pp. 301 – 337.

Sandler, et al., “Treatment alliance”, Ch. 5, pp. 45 – 56; “Fantasies and expectations”, Ch. 7, pp. 62 – 66, and “Insight and self-observation”, Ch. 8, pp. 67 – 73.

Week #3 – January 28th -- Group B

Topic: Play Therapy/Evidence-based practice/beginning play therapy

Readings:

Chethik, M., “General characteristics of the child patient”, Ch. 1, pp. 5 – 27; and “The Central Role of Play”, Ch. 3, pp. 48-70.

Kazdin, A.E., & Weisz, J.R. (1998). “Identifying and developing empirically supported child and adolescent treatments”, pp. 139 – 193.

Landreth, G. “Beginning the relationship: The child’s hour”, Ch. 9, pp. 153 – 182, and “The Playroom and Materials”. Ch. 7, 109-130.

O’Conner, K. (2005). “Addressing diversity issues in play therapy”, pp. 566 – 573.

Week #4 – February 4th– Group C

Topic: Becoming a therapist: Listening, responding, mindsight, contingent communication, attachment, and mental models/critical thinking skills

Readings:

Dozier, M., and Bates, B.C. (2006). “Attachment state of mind and the treatment relationship”, Ch. 7, pp. 167 - 180.

Kobak, R., and Esposito, A. (2006). “Levels of processing in parent-child relationships: Implications for clinical assessmenty and treatment”, pp. 139 - 166.

Lewis, et al., “Between stone and sky”, Ch. 8, p. 165 – 190; and, “A walk in the shadows”, Ch. 9, pp. 191 – 226.

Siegel, D.J., “Interpersonal connections”; “The development of mindsight: minds creating minds”, Ch. 8, pp. 276b– 300, and, pp. 199 – 207, in The developing mind.

Siegel and Hartzell, “How we remember: Experience shapes who we are”, Ch. 1, pp. 13 – 38; “How we feel: Emotion in our internal and interpersonal worlds”, Ch. 3., p. 57 – 79; “How we communicate: Making connections”, Ch. 4, pp. 80 – 100; and, “How we attach: Relationships between children and parent”, Ch. 5, pp. 101 – 121.

Terr, L. 2008). “An idealized parent, or even a lesser god”, Ch. 1, pp. 13 - 37; “A real person”, Ch. 4, pp. 72 - 93; and, “Waiting games”, Ch. 6, pp.113 - 125.

Week # 5 – February 11th – Group D

Topic: The role of attachment in play and psychotherapy

Readings:

Cooper, et al., “The circle of security intervention”, Ch. 6, 122- 151, [in Berlin et al., eds.]

Gabel, Oster and Pfeiffer. Difficult Moments in Child Psychotherapy.

Holmes, J. “Attachment theory and the practice of psychotherapy”, Ch. 8, 149-176; and

“Attachment theory and psychiatric disorder”, Ch. 9, pp. 177-199.

Hughes, D. Facilitating Development Attachment. “Introduction”, Ch. 1, 1-10; “Attachment:

Theory and Research”, Ch. 2, 11-34; “Integrative psychotherapy for developmental attachment

in children”, Ch. 4, 49-76; and “Parental participation”, Ch. 5, 77-92.

Week # 6 – February 18th – Group A

Topic: The Floor Time Approach

[plan role play practice to demonstrate floor time principles and exercises]

Video -“Techniques of Play Therapy” – Nancy Boyd Webb video, 50 minutes

Readings:

Greenspan, S.I. The essential partnership. “Floor Time: From the ground up”, Ch. 3, pp. 19-62.

Greenspan, S.I. and Weider, S. “The Six Milestones”, Ch. 5, pp. 91 - 105; “The Floor Time Approach”, Ch. 8, 121-131;

“Floor Time I: Attention, Engagement and Intimacy – Helping a child become interested in the world and connect with people:, 132-158:

Floor Time II: Two Way Communication – Helping a child communicate with gestures and expressions”, Ch. 10, 160-189:

“Floor Time III: Feelings and Ideas: Helping a child develop and express feelings and ideas”, Ch. 11, 190-230; and ,

“Floor Time IV: Logical Thinking: Helping a child connect ideas and develop a logical understanding of the world”, Ch. 12, 231-292. [In The child with special needs].

Week #7 – February 25th -- Group B

Topic: Sandtray Theory

Readings:

Boik, B.L., and Goodwin, E.A. “Setting up a Sandplay Space”, 1-51.

Bradway, K. et al. “Variations on a theme by Lowenfeld: Sandplay in focus”. 3-20;

“The developmental psychology of sandplay”, Ch. 3, 39-92, and “Developmental stages in children’s sand world’s”, Ch. 4, 93-100.

Homeyer, L.E., and Sweeney, D.S., “Sandtray: A practical manual”.

Hunter, L.B. Images of resiliency. “The sandplay process: Why it works”, Ch. 3, 28 - 43;“Sewing on their own shadow”, 45-57; and “The heroic journey”, Ch. 8, 58-67.

Lowenfeld, M. Understanding children’s sandplay. “Introduction”, 1-26.

Week #8 – March 4th -- Group C

Topic: Storytelling and Narrative Therapy Techniques

Readings:

De Socio, J.E. (2005). “Assessing self-development through narrative approaches in child and adolescent psychotherapy”, pp. 53 – 61.

Lawrence, M., et al., (2005), “Introduction: The Playfulness of Storytelling”, pp. 1 – 11.

Week # 9 March 11th -- Group D

Topic: Sandtray and Narrative Storytelling to promote secure attachment

Readings:

Nichols, M., Lacher, D., and May, J. “Parenting with stories: Creating a foundation of attachment for parenting your child”, pp. 2 – 40.

Siegel, D.J., and Hartzell, M. “How we perceive reality: Constructing the stories of our lives”, Ch. 2, pp. 29 – 56 in Parenting from the inside out.

Week # 10 – March 18th – Group A

Topic: Treatment approaches for specific disorders/Challenging clinical encounters

Readings:

Chethik, M., Ch’s 4-9, pp. 71-192. (These readings include selections on treating neurotic, borderline, narcissistically disturbed, character pathology and young patients).

Greene, R. The Explosive Child. “The Waffle Episode”; “Terrible Beyond Two”, “Pathways to Inflexibility – Explosiveness”, 1-57; “The Truth about Consequences”, Ch. 5, 88-102; “Clear the Smoke”, Ch. 6, 103-132; and “Basket Case”, Ch. 7, 133-172.

Popolos & Popolos. “Voices from the front”, Ch. 1, pp. 3 - 25; “Ch. 3, “Pathways to inflexibility-explosiveness” pp. 27 - 57; ; symptom checklist in “How to find a good therapist”, Ch. 3, 61-73; and “The psychological dimensions”, Ch. 7, 170-193.