Season 2: Episode 1
 
Guest Lauren Labeth, LCSW, joins reFRAMED Podcast Host, Emily Morehead, LPC, to discuss making play a powerful tool for parents, teachers, and child professionals. Lauren shares with our listeners that based on the dimensions of structure, nurture, engagement, and challenge, Theraplay® allows parents and children to strengthen attachment, build self-esteem, and participate in a more positive relationship with one another.
 
We are striving to make an impact in our world through creating conversations about topics that are important to you and yours.

Lauren Labeth at Gladney UniversityOur Guest:

Originally from West Texas, Lauren Labeth moved to Oklahoma in 2007 on a whim and has been there ever since. Lauren loves doing life with her husband, their two goofy dogs, and little girl, Z. Professionally, she is a licensed clinical social worker. She works in private practice to provide therapeutic services to children, adolescents, and adults in both individual and family settings. Lauren has additional experience in working with individuals touched by foster care/adoption, trauma, and autism spectrum disorder. She also provides select adoption services including domestic home studies and post-placement visits. When she is out of the office...Lauren is a coach's wife, an avid reader, a classic introvert, and a first-time mom. She spends her time traveling throughout Oklahoma to watch various sporting events, taking spontaneous road trips (the fewer plans...the better), spending nights reading on the back porch, and enjoying good food with friends.

 

Show Notes:

"It's okay to be silly. It's okay to learn through play. It's okay to learn through mistakes." ~Lauren Labeth

In this episode, we talked about:

  • Play is a great tool for parents to have in their parenting toolbox. It is sued for infants through teenagers and even adults. It speaks well across the ages. It is easy with no specific equipment needed. It's about the experience and how you complete the activity.
  • Play is natural to children. While a child from a hard place, might be in a state of flight, fight or free, they haven't had play broken in them. With play, you can put in so many lessons and concepts such as Simon Says, House, etc. to teach following directions.
  • With discipline with children, you have about 12 words before their brain shuts off. If can engage them through play you have a better opportunity to connect to the child.
  • Correcting Manner = This is a more traditional parenting style of discipline. You correct the behavior without thought of what does your child need from you in order to stop this behavior.
  • Connecting Manner = If you connect with your child first before you correct, it takes the defensiveness in the response. Connect so the child feels safe before you respond. The child from trauma needs to feel safe.
  • In Theraplay®, you are in therapy with your child. You are on the floor with your child with the therapist so that you have hands-on practice and experience. This gives the parents the tools they need so they can do this at home themselves.
  • Elements of Play:
    • Attunement by seeing your child and being able to read them. 
    • Learning to enjoy each other with very little talking.
  • For teens, play still works well. What we've found is that teens from trauma might be 13 but their developmental and emotional age is behind. There are different activities that you can shift to their level to make it more "adult" and yet still be engaging. Some ways for nurturing are brushing the teen's hair or doing their nails. This allows our teens to let the parents take care of them.
  • Theraplay® is a lot of eye contact and close proximity. With a child of trauma, you might have to gradually introduce so that your child is comfortable. Give the child permission to say if they are uncomfortable and be mindful of how they are reacting.
  • Through play you are going to get the chance to learn, enjoy, and be in the moment with your child.

"Play disarms fear, builds connectedness, teaches social skills, teaches competencies for life." ~ Dr. Karyn Purvis

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