Leslie Baker, MFT, NCC, RPT-S

Continued from blog post #2

The client is asked to develop the bullying story that they had portrayed and to act it out with the Thera-Tool™ Figure and other props. The therapist can witness and/or participate depending on the client’s choice and may suggest video recording the drama play especially if the clinician is a part of the drama play so they can watch it as a playback to explore the experience from the 3^rd person perspective.

Technology Integrated Multimodal Play Therapy creates an opportunity for a client to calm and downregulate as they explore their bullying incident, in the beginning, from the most structured moderate exposure, drawing it on a tablet. Overtime, the client exposes themselves with self-regulation, support and witnessing to two additional opportunities for more prolonged exposure to the same bullying incident. The Virtual Sandtray App and Drama Play allow the client to gain mastery and control over their world, affecting their vision of their traumatic experience. This process aids the client to develop outcomes they choose, and they decide on. The therapist provides the relationship and technology and becomes another trusted ally in their healing.

Helpful Tips:

• Be mindful to keep the clinical tablet you use free of personal information and be cautious to delete creations after printing them for your clients file.

• Video would only be appropriate with a properly signed consent form from the youth, parents and/or client and ability to manage digital assets with proper HIPPA regulations.

• If a client becomes flooded or dissociated while exploring the trauma material, stop the intervention and offer the MUSE for downregulating as needed or offer another downregulating opportunity such as bilateral tapping.

References

Gantt, L. & Tinnin, M.D., (2009). Support for a neurobiological view of trauma with implications for art therapy. The Arts in Psychotherapy. 36(3) 148-153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2008.12.005

Hinduja, S. & Patchin, J.W., (2018) Connecting Adolescent Suicide to the Severity of Bullying and Cyberbullying, Journal of School Violence, DOI: 10.1080/15388220.2018.1492417 Abstract Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15388220.2018.1492417?scroll=top&needAccess=true

Perry, B.D., (2009). Examining child maltreatment through a neurodevelopmental lens: clinical application of the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics. Journal of Loss and Trauma 14: 240-255.

Pierce, L., (2014). The Integrative power of Dance and Movement therapy: Implications for the Treatment of dissociation and developmental trauma. Arts in Psychotherapy, 41(1): 7-15. Retrieved From: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2013.10.002

The National Academies of Sciences, (2018) Preventing Bullying Through Science, Policy, and Practice Retrieved from https://www.nap.edu/read/23482/chapter/2

Van der Kolk B., (2014). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. New York, NY: Sage.

Leslie Baker, MFT, NCC, RPT-S: Licensed since 1991, Leslie serves couples, families, women, men and youth who are dealing with challenges in connecting to themselves, others and to their lives. Her specialties include: depression, anxiety, trauma, grief, loss and parenting issues; and she assists couples, individuals and families facing all types of life’s transitions and challenges. She provide safe and supportive, compassionate, results-oriented sessions to help reduce symptoms, increase resilience and options and facilitate well-being and happiness. 

https://gottmanreferralnetwork.com/therapists/leslie-baker

Medibang paint: https://medibangpaint.com/en/

Virtual Sandtray: http://www.sandtrayplay.com

Thera-tool: https://www.trinaswerdlow.com/thera-tool-figure/

The post An Effective Method For Children Suffering From Bullying – Guest Blog first appeared on Jessica Stone, PhD, RPT-S.

Leslie Baker, MFT, NCC, RPT-S

Bullying

An age-old trauma for school-age children in hallways and cafeterias, bullying continues its reign of terror. The forms and incidences of bullying, which include cruelty, exclusion, and rumormongering, have grown with the inclusion of cyberbullying now in the mix. According to the research by Hinduja & Patchin, (2018), students between the ages of 12 to 17 who were either bullied at school or online reported significantly more suicidal thoughts. The youth who experienced both school bullying and online bullying reported more suicidal thoughts and attempts. Lastly, the students who were bullied online in a way that impacted them at school suffered an increased risk of both suicidal thinking and attempts.

Understanding the effects of bullying is critical; it’s particularly insidious in childhood because it disrupts brain development, impacting self-regulation and the ability to build healthy relationships in adulthood. According to the National Academy of Science (2018) summary, “regardless of the mechanism, being bullied seems to have an impact on mental health functioning during adulthood.” The study also noted that:

…the effects of being bullied on the brain are not yet fully understood, there are changes in the stress response systems and in the brain that are associated with increased risk of mental health problems, cognitive function, self-regulation, and other physical problems (Conclusion 4.3). (para. 19)

Traumatic experience, like those noted in Acute Childhood Experience Scores  (ACE Study),  links childhood traumatic events to later serious health problems and to emotional and social difficulties such as depression and suicidal behaviors. Trauma in childhood impacts self-regulation and connection formation throughout a child’s life span changing the brain and the body.

Mitigating the Effects of Bullying

Multimodal Play Therapy Intervention incorporates Integrated Play Therapy Theory, Neuro-Sequential Model of Therapeutics by Dr. Bruce Perry, and moderate exposure training via experiential play therapy techniques such as down-regulation training with intervention including meditation, drawing, sandtray, and drama play. Multimodal Play Therapy Intervention assists trauma survivors to down regulate the stress system with mindfulness practices. Drawing desensitizes via moderate-to-prolonged exposure training and drama play leads to discovering and developing ways to move forward in connection with body movement. Throughout the process of the multimodal approach, these interventions assist in increasing the window of tolerance for traumatized clients and provide an opportunity for their brains to reintegrate trauma from a bottom up developmental neuro-sequential approach through the experiential play and expressive modalities.  (Part 1 of 3)

• References at the end of Part #3

The post An Effective Method For Children Suffering From Bullying – Guest Blog first appeared on Jessica Stone, PhD, RPT-S.