{"id":4943,"date":"2015-03-19T15:07:19","date_gmt":"2015-03-19T20:07:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/?p=4943"},"modified":"2015-05-19T11:26:17","modified_gmt":"2015-05-19T16:26:17","slug":"play-therapy-in-practice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/2015\/play-therapy-in-practice\/","title":{"rendered":"Play Therapy in Practice"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Becky<\/a>Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) psychology student Becky Longhurst wants to work \u201call day, every day\u201d in the field of play therapy.<\/p>\n

The fourth year student had an opportunity to gain practical experience with play therapy during her nine-month practicum placement with Erie Neighborhood House in Chicago.<\/p>\n

Play therapy involves watching the interactions children create between toys, which can be reflective of a child\u2019s emotions and relationships, says Longhurst. Play therapy can be especially useful for children who aren\u2019t yet able to express themselves verbally.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe step back and observe and imagine what the interactions might mean for where children are at,\u201d says Longhurst. \u201cIt\u2019s a cool thing to see how they interact with other children before and after. It was rewarding to be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Erie Neighbourhood House\u2019s mission is \u201cto promote a just and inclusive society by strengthening low-income, primarily Latino families through skill-building, access to critical resources, advocacy and collaborative action.\u201d One of the ways they do this is by partnering with graduate students from the University of Illinois at Chicago to offer a play therapy program for preschool children ages 2-5. Longhurst assisted teachers as needed and observed the play therapy process. She also spent part of her practicum as an assistant teacher.<\/p>\n

Longhurst says she was able to see the theories she\u2019s studied in the classroom be put into practice at Erie Neighbourhood House.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a student, the practicum instilled in me this was important work and it does make a difference,\u201d she says. \u201cI have more energy behind my education now because I\u2019ve seen what it can do. It makes me want to develop more because I\u2019ve seen that it really works.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the same time, Longhurst says the placement wasn\u2019t without its struggle. \u201cKids are my happy place,\u201d she says. \u201cCan I get into a profession that might open me up to their suffering and pain?\u201d<\/p>\n

It was hard to see children experiencing some of what she\u2019s studied but seeing the progress children made as a result of therapy helped Longhurst stay motivated in her work.<\/p>\n

The challenge was one aspect of what made the practicum so valuable for Longhurst. By having the opportunity to experience and practice what is studied in the classroom, she says the practicum is a way for students to know what they may experience in their career.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a full enthusiast in putting academic and experiential learning together,\u201d she says. \u201cOne of the most important things a student can do is to get out there, to go and see for themselves instead of people just telling them what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each of CMU\u2019s Bachelor of Arts programs has a practicum component, allowing students to gain hands on experience in their program.<\/p>\n

Longhurst says the practicum experience made her feel more confident in her choice of a psychology major and that she feels \u201cmore comfortable in graduating with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for what\u2019s next, Longhurst expects she\u2019ll pursue a master\u2019s degree with the ultimate goal of working in play therapy.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnything that lets me work with kids until I get there is fine\u2014whatever leads me there is going to be great,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Ellen Paulley, Writer and Social Media Coordinator at CMU<\/em><\/p>\n

Learn more about CMU\u2019s practicum program<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) psychology student Becky Longhurst wants to work \u201call day, every day\u201d in the field of play therapy. The fourth year student had an opportunity to gain practical experience with play therapy during her nine-month practicum placement with Erie Neighborhood House in Chicago. Play therapy involves watching the interactions children create between […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[170],"tags":[867,406,230],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4943"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4943"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4943\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4947,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4943\/revisions\/4947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}