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The Inner Theatre of Hope:
Working Therapeutically with Play, Drama, Sand and Stories.
 
16th, 17th, 18th September
Only a few places left
Click here for more information | |
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Look out for 20% discount voucher at the end of our newsletter. |
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What is Gestalt Play Therapy?
Gestalt Therapy originated in the 1960's, at a time when a more 'human' approach to therapy was starting to emerge. It is practiced in individual, couples, and family therapies, as well as in therapy with children and young people.
Gestalt Therapy focuses on process and relationship rather than vocabulary. The approach is interested in raising awareness of how the body and mind hold emotions and deals with them in the here and now. Play is children's first language and not vocabulary, making Gestalt Therapy a very practical and accessible way of working therapeutically with children and young people as well as adults. The Gestalt Play Therapy course is run by a qualified Gestalt Psychotherapist and Play Therapist.
Gestalt psychotherapists believe that individuals have the capacity to overcome trauma, problems, or difficulties. In life we constantly adapt in an attempt to ensure our needs are met or to resolve challenge. What might be helpful for us at one time or in a certain situation may not always be. Sometimes through past experiences, we can get stuck in less helpful patterns of being. For example the child that does not have their needs met may creatively adjust by becoming independent and self relent. This is positive in enabling them to survive but if this is the only or "stuck" way of being, then the child will find it very difficult to receive support and nurturance from other when they are in an environment that can meet their needs. Gestalt recognises that the mind and body are not split. The Gestalt Play Therapist meets the child through play and movement and follows the child's pace.
Trainings in Gestalt Play Therapy are extremely scarce in the UK so we are really excited to be offering a one day Introduction to Gestalt Play Therapy on 14th October 2011. The course will be run by qualified Gestalt psychotherapist and Play Therapist and is designed for Play Therapists, Counsellors, Psychotherapists and trainee therapists that work with children and young people. You will be presented with an introductory level understanding to Gestalt theory and practice. A Gestalt Play Therapy approach to Child Therapy offers you a wealth of practical strategies for working therapeutically with children and young people using Gestalt Play Therapy techniques that you can take away and apply to practice. Please visit the course diary page of our website for more information or to book a place.
A Gestalt Play Therapy Approach to Child Therapy |
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If you don't listen to children with the heart, you are not really listening."
Garry Landreth |
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How Long is a Piece of String?
Take a reel of string. Hold the end whilst telling others in the circle something about yourself e.g. "This summer I did... " or "My name is ... and I like..." Hold on to the end of the string and then pass the reel to somebody else in the circle who will also tell something about themselves. Carry this on until everybody in the circle has had a turn and the string as joined everybody together. As the game ends and the strings rewound, and when the reel comes back to them, ask the children if they remember who said what about them. Or the criss crossed string can be laid on the floor and a photo can be taken to put on a board to show how the group is connected. (see below)
A Primary Curriculum for Behaviour, (2005) Northampton, Kings Meadow School. |
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WEP Annual Conference
Empowering Professionals
Empowering Parents
Empowering Pupils
Workshop - Jogo
Supporting Parents to make Changes
Thursday 29th September
9am - 4pm
Hunsbury Centre, Northampton
www.wellingborougheducationpartnership.co.uk |
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Greetings!
Welcome to the September addition of the Jogo newsletter. We hope that you have had a good summer with lots of opportunity to play.
We are just days away from Professor Mooli Lahad and Noga Goldring's inspiring training and we can not wait.
We are hitting the new term running with trainings for NCH family Centre and the Family Intervention Project. as well as key note speaking at the Wellingborough Education Partnerships Conference next month.
Please feel free to contact us at any point if you would like further information about any of our trainings.
If you think this newsletter would be useful to a friend or a colleague, please click the button below.
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Understanding Children's Behaviour
"I do not view a child's behaviour, displeasing as it may sometimes be, as sickness. I view it as the child's evidence of strength and survival. A child will do what he can in any way to survive in this world. He will do what he thinks is the best thing to do to get through the job of growing up."
Oaklander, V. (1988) Windows To Our Children: A Gestalt Therapy Approach to our Children and Adolescents. Highland, New York: The Center for Gestalt Development, Inc.
This quote has been our mantra for the last 20 years and has been the basis for our approach to understanding and managing children and young people's behaviour.
According to Government Statistics (2009/2010), 900 children and young people are excluded from school every school day due to issues relating to behaviour. This figure represents an enormous challenge to parents, carers, teaching staff, social workers or health workers. It is clear we need to construct fresh solutions. Challenging behaviour can be very confusing, deskilling and tiring for both the child and the people around them. Attempting to understand the behaviour is important, because if we can look for the cause and the intention behind the behaviour, then we can develop strategies and interventions in an attempt to change the behaviour. We view behaviour as a form of communication. We need to see beyond the behaviour find ways of understanding it if we want to change it.
If you are interested in developing your skills in understanding and managing children and young people's behaviour, then click on the link below.
Understanding Children's Behaviour
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Calling all Therapists
Dr. Barbara Mitchels
will be delivering a course on
Confidentiality & Record Keeping:
for Jogo
on
9th December 2011
For more information click the below link
Confidentiality and Record Keeping Course Information
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Supporting Children with Change
Life is full of changes, little every day ones, bigger one like changing class and even larger to starting school, moving school, going to university or leaving home. Dr Bruce Perry (leading expert in the effects of trauma) believes that all changes can be traumatic for children. Fortunately most children learn to manage change successfully.
As children grow and develop they are better able to manage changes because:
- their cognitive and language skills are more developed, so they are more able to understand what the change is and are able to predict what is likely to occur.
- they have experienced other changes and will have developed strategies to manage.
- Also from their previous experiences of change they will hopefully have developed a sense of trust that people around them will help.
- they will have more power and control and can potentially have some influence in the change.
However if children's experiences of change have been overwhelming and unsupported, they may not have learnt the skills to cope with change. To develop the skills to manage change, infants and children need a safe, predictable and nurturing environment with an adult who is able to support the child and their emotions through change.
With nurseries and school settings, ensuring at the beginning that routines are predictable and repetitive creating a safe environment will enable children to manage the change. The younger the children, the more repetition they need to begin to feel confident in their new environment. However the most important element is the adults around the child who need to present as confident and available.
Here are a few ideas to help support children through change:
- Attach a key worker to each child
- Take photos of each child (individually and in the group) in their new environment and display them.
- Measure each child at the beginning and make a height chart. Advise them that they will be measured again at the end of the year to see how much they have grown.
As the picture states, "the only constant in life is change," therefore we need to learn to manage the stress of change. |
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Just to finish, please find a websites that may be of interest to you.
As always, thank you for being a Jogo customer. We hope this newsletter has been of interest to you and please contact us if there is anything you would like to see or for
us to research for the next newsletter .
Regards,
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