Service Description

Attachment Theory (Main, M. 2010), Neurobiology (Siegel, D. 2007), and (Cozolino, L. 2002, 2014) attest that a coherent narrative of a child’s life experiences, such as loss and trauma, is essential for integrated development and a cohesive sense of self. The lack of a coherent narrative is often the source of the symptoms that bring a child into play therapy. Felicia Carroll found, over 40 years as a play therapist, that one of the most profound therapeutic interventions is co-writing with a child a narrative of his life experience, based on the universal elements and principles of storytelling (Mills, J. 1986) and trauma assessment (Hindman, J. 1989). This collaborative process with a child and her caregivers supports the child toward neural integration and a sense of resolution and stability in his life. When the play therapist writes with a child as “editor in chief”, the creativity of both results in an emotionally rich and coherent story that is meaningful to the child. The narrative is combined with drawings, photos, documents, and other accompanying materials into a “book” that the child takes for reading again and again. Participants will learn the fundamentals of writing life/trauma narratives that hold together informational and emotional experiences and how to bring these together into a “book”. Various examples from the presenter’s play therapy practice will be reviewed, and participants will practice writing a child’s narrative with supportive review by the presenter and other participants. Presenter: Felicia Carroll, LMFT, RPT-S Location: Solvang, CA CE: 15 contact hours