BOOK SUMMARY -- Mindfulness Based Play-Family Therapy Child Development, and Mindful Parenting: Weaving It all Together, by Dottie Higgins Klein

Introduction

Mindfulness Based Play-Family Therapy (MBP-FT) is a method of working therapeutically with children, using play to promote the healing of emotional and somatic problems, the correction of behavioral issues, and the repair of developmental deficits. The healing addresses traumatic events that may be part of the child's history. Key to MBP-FT is the therapist's attunement with the child based on the clear intention to establish a space of unconditional presence in which the emotional and somatic conditions of the child are free to unfold from their confinement and to be transformed. Ideally, this joint experience nurtures the growth of trust that allows the child to feel, “I am okay for being me as I am in my core self.” There is an appreciation of the crucial value of allowing silence to be interspersed with mindful speech, and an awareness of nonverbal body cues.

 

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Chapter 1: The Nine Identifying Components of Mindfulness Based Play-Family Therapy

1. Parent is Present with the Child for discussions of Reality

In Mindfulness Based Play-Family Therapy, a parent is present with the child for discussions of reality, “Talk Time”. One goal is to foster exceptional parent/child communication skills...

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Chapter 2: Family Intake Information and the Referral Process

The process of connection with the new family starts with the first call that is made to a therapist or an agency from someone seeking help. This chapter offers a step by step account of the process of recording the referral  information which takes approximately twenty minutes and includes easy-to-use forms in the resource section of the book.

Chapter 3: The Evaluation in Four Segments: First Phase of Mindfulness Based Play-Family Therapy

The evaluation, generally four sessions, gives the play-family therapist  time to become grounded in the presenting problems, the developmental history of the concerned child, and the family histories of both parents.

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Chapter 4: Six Stages of Mindfulness Based Play-Family Therapy

The six stages are: 1, Talk Time, the parent-child dyad stage; 2, exploring the playroom; 3, expectations and limit setting; 4, deeper awareness/meditative stage; 5, integration; 6, closure. Traditionally, there are five stages of play therapy. Play-Family Therapy adds a sixth stage of “Talk Time”, which is a twenty-minute, family therapy based meeting...

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Chapter 5: The Zen of Play Therapy -- The Mindful Experience

This chapter describes in greater depth the somatic, mindful experience that is happening during the fourth stage of play therapy. The therapist creates a mindful space inside of herself and uses both words and modeling to encourage the child to stay in the imaginative realm. These factors invite the child...

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Chapter 6: Mindful Parenting Meetings without the Child -- includes a basic understanding of Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB)

There is a required meeting with parents after every fourth  MBP-FT session. The child does not attend. The therapist shares the significance of the dynamic of the child's play.  Parents are invited to discuss issues and problems of any of the family members, including, of course, the child for whom they have the most concern.

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Chapter 7: Language & Metaphors of Play Therapy

This chapter elaborates on two of the most important skills for the play therapist to learn: l) language: how to respond with words and silence to the child in the pretend realm, in the present moment in the play room, and 2) metaphors: how to appreciate, understand and interpret what the child is saying through the metaphors of his or her play. This is an important chapter for how to hold the space in a way that offers the child the safety to stay in the implicit, intuitive, right brain experience which is an essential component toward rewiring the brain.

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Chapter 8: Mindfulness Based Sandtray Therapy

Mindfulness Based Sandtray Therapy (MBST) is a body-mind approach that integrates Sandtray theories with mindfulness meditation principles, which nurture conscious awareness of a person's whole-life experience. Current research on the brain, including Interpersonal Neurobiology, is strongly pointing in the direction of the psychotherapeutic value of addressing somatic awareness and modulation of affect...

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Chapter 9: Relevance in Mindfulness Based Play-Family Therapy of the Child’s Early Developmental History

This chapter outlines Margaret Mahler’s Theory of Separation and Individuation, the roots of attachment and personality development  which emerged from her twenty years of research. Included are many examples of normal development that are practical for families.

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Chapter 10: Introduction to Family Therapy

This introduction to family therapy addresses the topic of higher and lower functioning in families across the socioeconomic spectrum.  A value of the therapy is that, as families are willing to participate in deeper healing experiences, the functioning level of the family improves and benefits not only the present but also future generations.

This chapter also introduces: contextual (Nagy) and structural (Minuchin),  Bowen Theory...

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Chapter 11: How Mindfulness Based Play-Family Therapy Is Informed by Contextual Family Therapy

The essence of Contextual Family Therapy has always been that it is rooted in the empathic relationship with the therapist and in the invitation to heal relationships at the root level. This chapter contains twelve core concepts of Contextual Therapy woven with practical application to MBP-FT.

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Chapter 12: An Integration Chapter -- Mindfulness Based Play-Family Therapy, Child Development, and Parenting: Weaving it All Together

MBP-FT is aware of many levels working simultaneously and sequentially. Part I of this Chapter takes each stage of the child's early development broken down in age clusters from infancy to three. Each age grouping is represented...

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Chapter 13: Case Study in Mindfulness Based Play-Family Therapy

In order to enable the reader to understand the theory concretely, an extensive 100 page case study of a middle-class biracial family is presented.  The text of this chapter includes verbatim accounts of parts of the four segment evaluation, narration of key experiences in the playroom, and summaries many of the sessions. Commentaries about the play therapy are also included.

Chapter 14: Adapting Mindfulness Based Play-Family Therapy to a Variety of Settings and Issues

This chapter briefly addresses the application of MBP-FT to a wide range of clinical situations.  It particularly offers a framework for adapting the four segment evaluation.

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Chapter 15: Training & Supervision of Mindfulness Based Play-Family Therapy

This final chapter outlines ideas on the training and supervision of Mindfulness Based Play-Family Therapy.  A comprehensive training program includes graduate and post-graduate training as well as participation in individual and group supervision.  Supervision affords the opportunity for integration of what is being learned in the didactic setting.

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