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Description

For a very long time now, adults and children have experienced different distressing events

which in turn results to mind damage (trauma). According to the American Psychological

Association, this mind damage (trauma) is an emotional response a person or a child experiences

in response to an extremely negative action or event. To help a traumatized adult is much easier

than a child and that’s why each and every day psychological researchers are working tirelessly

to improve methods like play therapy or to come up with better methods of helping traumatized

children. XXXXX

It is indeed true that learners in the therapeutic relationship practitioners must discern which

therapeutic technique they would select when working with children in addressing sexual abuse

issues. This is because the method to be chosen not only depends on the type of trauma and its

frequency of occurrence but it also depends on other factors like the kind of the child.

The chart below outlines the techniques for Play Therapy and Expressive Therapy used when

working with children.

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Play Therapy

Puppets, dollhouse, interpret drawings

And other toys for and paintings

Play interpretation
Non-directive Directive

Drama, Art, Play Dance and Music

Expressive Therapy

Play Therapy.

Paly therapy is not just sitting down with a child and hopping that sometimes they are getting

therapeutically engaged through that process because that will be unrealistic and won’t be

helpful to them in any way. There is a lot more to working with children than just playing with

them especially in a therapeutic environment like such as a psychiatrists or psychologist’s office

where they have toys and a background where they can play with children and also knows what

to do at that particular time since that is what a true play therapy entails.

Just like any other approach, play therapy has got its own goals which are;
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 To help in relieving internal emotional distress

 To help children to be able to continue normally, developmentally(not just physical

development but neurological development) so that the trauma which under this case is

sexual abuse, cannot hinder any kind of natural development process of the child.

Play therapy is divided into two types: that is directive and non-directive play therapy.

In directive play therapy, therapist leads and in the process encourages the child re-enact

whichever kind of the traumatic event they’ve experienced. Drawings and paintings can be used

in the process. The therapist under certain situations can also use a toy or even make the child to

draw a picture of what has happened so they kind of lead the child into talking about what has

happened or behaviourally re-enacting what has occurred.

In non-directive play therapy, the child has the complete control over the play and that’s why

some call it a “child cantered” play therapy. The child is being provided by an unconditional

positive environment so that he/she can have the control over the play. The therapist can engage

the use of a dollhouse or even a puppet for the purpose of coming up with a pretend play.

Expressive therapy.

Unlike play therapy, expressive therapy relies mostly on creative expression such as dramatic,

musical and artistical kinds of expression. XXXXXX(book:Appalachian Expressive Arts

Collective, year:2003, town:North Carolina, publisher:Parkway publishers, page 23) When using

expressive therapy, the therapist has got one major advantage which is that through the creation
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of the different creative expressions used and tapping of those imaginations, it can be possible to

examine one’s body, thoughts, feelings and emotional processes.

Conclusion.

If I were the practitioner, I would choose the expressive therapy technique. This is because

technological changes has totally interfered with how children look at and value different kinds

of toys and plays. It will be difficult to convince a child who relies only on video games to sit

down and play with certain toys, but it will be easier to engage the child into some artistical,

musical, or dancing kind of a play so that you can monitor their behaviour, feelings, or emotional

thoughts.