Ann Beckley-Forest, LCSW, RPT-S
As many other have been around the world, there was a period of relative normalcy this summer and early fall in New York, where I live and practice—careful adherence to mask wearing, hand washing and ventilation had made it possible for me to see some of my younger and more vulnerable clients in my therapy space which is oriented towards play. In my play therapy space the possibilities of dramatic play, of movement and creativity set an easier path to joining, attunement and keeping processing within their ability to tolerate.
Last week, I reluctantly locked up my office again and prepared my return to telehealth as the pandemic takes a sharp turn upwards. I am irritated by the carelessness which has contributed to the rise of cases, but also trying to let go of all that so I can energize myself to re-enter the virtual therapy space.
Lessons learned and re-learned for success in remote EMDR therapy with children
- Attending to the technology with patience and good humor. Managing interruptions, advocating for privacy, offering families tech support, getting further training and expertise myself are all a part of good therapy. This is what good attachment figures do – we model problem solving, step by step from a place of calm, determined presence. Our persistence in staying connected to our clients is messy, but it is good healing therapy nonetheless – and we get better and better if we stick with it.
- Movement still matters. One of the key principles in my teaching and my own clinical work is the idea of embodied play – children are most themselves when they are in motion. This obviously presents challenges when we are anchored to computer screens, but I have educated my client’s parents on the necessity and desirability of children being able to move when they are with me, use their own toys or materials comfortably and flexibly – and I need to model moving around as well. We know trauma lives in the body, causes freeze reactions as well as agitation, and our work in helping children to regulate through movement and grounding shouldn’t change.
- Storytelling and narrative as the setting for trauma work. As a trained play therapist as well as EMDR therapist, I have always relied on the creation of stories and play dramas as way to gradually approach trauma material and give children adaptive learning and mastery experiences in therapy. The challenge has been to harness the power of technology in this “virtual space” to help children engage. For example, I have been using screen sharing and google slides with image searches to make virtual books with children with the consent of their parents –these storybooks provide a framework for preparing and processing of targets and a way to anchor our work together.
- Relax the pace. In a time of crisis, our first principle is to maintain a sense of safety. Accepting our own limits and conveying a sense of acceptance to the families who are struggling to do so much in the face of this global crisis – we should never under-estimate how much power we have for good when we promote self-compassion to our clients!
Links to some tools I have used to try and keep my telehealth sessions playful:
https://www.storyboardthat.com
https://www.google.com/slides/about/
https://edu.google.com/products/jamboard/
https://www.onlinesandtray.com
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