Advertise on podcast: Play Time: A Podcast on Children and Play Therapy

Playful Parenting comes at you with this PSA to help remind you to laugh at your child the next time they are disobeying you in a way that is hilarious. It's connective, fun, and can avoid some of those pesky power struggles that feel like they go nowhere.  Support the show

Play Time is back for Season 2! This episode introduces the new season of Play Time, called 'Playful Parenting'.  Missed being with you all, feels good to be back.  Support the show

Hello Playtimers, this is the last episode of Play Time. Stay subscribed if you want to see what I am up to next, I have a feeling I will make another podcast (or Season 2 of Play Time??) at some point, but I have said what I need to say for now. Thank you for listening, thank you for writing in, and thank you for all the support. To know the podcast has been helpful in any way means the world to me, and I leave with a heart full of love. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/playtimepodcast)

Everything has a shadow side, yes? Empathy included. We explore empathy through the lens of how it can destabilize an individual, and highlight the value of grounding children and ourselves in the reality of our emotions, our body, and our experience, in contrast to being fixated on how other people are  doing. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/playtimepodcast)

Firing a therapist is sometimes the right thing to do. We talk about the importance of client's feeling power and autonomy in the therapeutic relationship, and then without getting into do's and don'ts, get into the sometimes complex question of getting the state involved when working with children. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/playtimepodcast)

On this very 78th episode, we take a look at being a parent in the modern world, name the trends towards deeper respect for emotions in both children and adults, and talking about working with parents with various systems of values and beliefs regarding parenting and how we can support all families as therapists regardless of their values regarding childhood and child rearing. Enjoy! Books named in this episode include: 'For Your Own Good' by Alice Miller 'The History of Childhood' by Lloyd de Mause Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/playtimepodcast)

On this one we name the value of connective and playful time with children, and of the instinctive ability of parents and caregivers to make aspects of life a game for children, as a way to help adults cultivate playfulness and game like qualities into life. We also take a detour into how to turn your own life as an adult into a game, and the potential benefits of it. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/playtimepodcast)

For the second anniversary of Play Time, we open up the mailbag to answer some questions about helping students in school who are having a hard time, and also discuss the value of a free and protected space, and how to create it. The book mentioned in the episode was 'Sandplay: A psychotherapeutic Approach to the Psyche' by Dora Kalff. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/playtimepodcast)

People get divorced all the time, and families separate all the time. These events are often discussed as being 'traumatic' in the life of a child, which can be the case, but is it always? Is it appropriate to put divorce in the same category as child abuse or other traumatic events? Play Time's stance is a firm 'no'. Give it a listen if you're curious why. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/playtimepodcast)

Children are brought to therapy by adults for all sorts of reasons, but from the child's perspective, the biggest problem they often face on a day to day basis is boredom. So let's talk about it! Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/playtimepodcast)

As a field, we talk a whole heck of a lot about attachment these days, and with good reason, but emotional autonomy is not only an aspect of secure attachment but it is both the bedrock of being child-centered as well as a firm foundation for children to be able to develop their unique identity and move through their unique journey in this world. And some placebo stuff as mentioned in the fictional advertisement: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18171452/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18171451/ https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0883073818756403 The book mentioned in the podcast was, 'A Way to the Soul of the Mentally Ill' by Gertrude Schwing. It is a little hard to find cheap, but well worth it. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/playtimepodcast)

Of course we hope as adults that children are learning from us (and they are, constantly, whether we like it or not) but what do we learn from them? What knowledge can we gain about ourselves and our relationship to the world through spending time with children? The answer is all kinds of knowledge! And I would name more, but at this point you might as well just check out the episode. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/playtimepodcast)