Discussion 1: Play Therapy
Children who have been abused or traumatized in some way may benefit from working with a therapist. Children often reenact trauma through repetitious play in order to establish mastery over their emotions and integrate experiences into their history on their own terms.
Through the use of toys and props, children may naturally share their emotions and past experiences without feeling the pressure they might encounter with traditional talk therapy.
For this Discussion, review the course-specific case study for Claudia(attached) and the Chiesa (2012) (attached) and Taylor (2009) (attached) articles.
Post an explanation of ways play therapy might be beneficial for Claudia. Using the insights gained from the articles, describe ways you might have worked with Claudia to address her fears and anxiety related to the mugging she witnessed.
Support your posts with specific references to the Learning Resources. Be sure to provide full APA citations for your references.Should be at least 150 words and contain at least 1 reference and 1 citation.
Discussion 2: Transference and Countertransference
Specific skills and knowledge are essential for a social worker working with children. Understanding transference and countertransference is crucial to a healthy therapeutic relationship.
Both transference and countertransference can be evident in any client-therapist relationship, but are especially important in working with children because of a common instinct among adults to protect and nurture the young.
The projection or relocation of one's feelings about one person onto another, otherwise known as transference, is a common response by children (Gil, 1991). Countertransference, a practitioner's own emotional response to a child, is also common.
For this Discussion, review the Malawista (2004) article.
Post your explanation why transference and countertransference are so common when working with children. Then, identify some strategies you might use to address both transference and countertransference in your work with children.
• Support your posts with specific references to the Learning Resources. Be sure to provide full APA citations for your references.Should be at least 150 words and contain at least 1 reference and 1 citation.
Discussion 3: Gaps in the Life Model
Piedra and Engstrom (2009) noted how the life model "remains general and unspecific regarding factors that affect immigrant families" (p. 272).
Recall that there will never be one theory or a model that can fully explain a phenomenon or lay out all the steps and procedures when working with complex issues that clients present to social workers.
Recognizing this, Piedra and Engstrom selected another theory in the immigration literature-segmented assimilation theory. They identified concepts from segmented assimilation theory to "fill in" the gaps that the life model does not address.
In this Discussion, you examine gaps in the life model by applying it to your field experience.
To prepare:
• Review the life model.
• Review this article in the Learning Resources: Piedra, L. M., & Engstrom, D. W. (2009). Segmented assimilation theory and the life model: An integrated approach to understanding immigrants and their children. Social Work, 54(3), 270-277.
Post:
Using an example from your fieldwork experience and a diverse population you encountered at the agency (for example, in Piedra and Engstrom's article, it was immigrant families), respond to the following:
• Identify and describe the diverse population and the unique characteristics and/or the distinctive needs of the population in 3 to 4 brief sentences.
• Explain how the life model can be applied for the population.
• Explain where the gaps are in applying the life model for this population.
• When looking at the gaps, explain which theory might be helpful in filling the gaps of the life model when working with this population.
• Should be at least 150 words and contain at least 1 reference and 1 citation.