Play Therapy Doll house Technique for Play Therapist to Use with Clients: A Testimony from Play Therapy Student

by Play Therapy Student

Doll House Play Therapy Technique / Doll House Play Therapy Activity

Doll House Play Therapy Technique / Doll House Play Therapy Activity

When I found out about having to build our play therapy doll house my first reaction was how in the world am I going to build my childhood house. I became anxious, and worried because my childhood house had a lot of bad memories for me.

I actually put the thought out of my head for about a month and did not think about it. It is funny because I actually do this a lot with the things that happened in that house. I know there were good things that happened there, but I can not remember them because of all the bad things.
My younger brother and I were physically and mentally abused in that house, and I was sexually abused there by our ex step father. We both have received counseling for what has happened, but I found it very hard to build this house and talk about it in class. When I actually started thinking about what it needed to look like it was easy to remember each room and even where all the furniture sat. We lived in a one bedroom duplex and my brothers and I all had to sleep in the kitchen.
When I got ready to build my house I asked my real dad if he had any extra wood lying around, because he is a carpenter. He had some and helped me build my house. He even remembered the house and he never lived there. He was in the army and would pick my brother and I up every time he was on leave and we would spend one month a year in the summer with him.
Being with him was always safe and I still have issues with feeling safe where ever I am. To me my dad was the one that “saved” my brother and I from that awful situation. When I was eleven my dad’s father died and my dad came back from Germany for the funeral and when he went back he took my brother and I with him. At the same time my mom was in the process of divorcing my ex step father. I never told my parents what my ex step father did until I was in Germany with my dad. My ex step father told me that if I told anyone he would hurt my brother and my brother and I were close and I did not want him to hurt him anymore then he already was so I never told.
As I was building this house I started remembering different things that happened there and had to stop a few times and distance my self. It was nice to have my dad to talk with and I did process a few things with him and he actually found out stuff he did not know about what happened to my brother and I there. He even told me that now he understood more about why my brother and I acted the way we did when he got us from there. My brother was always angry and I was withdrawn and wet the bed. I remember my dad taking us to counseling when he first got us, but I do not actually remember any of what happened with the counselor.
When I did my counseling session at school with my partner I introduced her to all the members of my family and told her about a few things that happened to me as a child. She had me talk to my mom because I have never really talked to her about any of the abuse. My mom worked second shift and I had hardly remembered her being there. I remember I had to take care of my brothers, cook and clean.
When my mom found out about the sexual abuse she said “If it really happened, then I am sorry.” After that we did not have a good relationship for a while. She is now my best friend and we sped a lot of time together. We still do not talk about anything that happened back then. One thing that did help our relationship was somehow she had gotten an e-mail from my ex step father and when she responded she told him “how dare you contact me after what you have done to my daughter.” She sent me a copy of that e-mail and it was wonderful for me to know that she actually did believe me and we have gotten so much closer since then. I do not know if she even knew that, that changed anything between us.
I have decided to not use my play therapy house in my future counseling. I am going to use it as therapy for myself. I am going to tear it down and burn it. I did try to burn down the real house when I was around ten, but my neighbor put it out and it only burned the cabinet door, so now I am actually going to succeed. I feel that this will be a very good thing for me.


More Ideas for Play Therapy Link:

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Disclaimer: This website and its content is intended for trained licensed mental health professionals and school certified mental health professionals to use for their clients / students at their own discretion.

*If you ignore the disclaimer above are using these techniques on yourself and you feel any discomfort or upset it is highly suggested that you seek out a licensed  mental health professional immediately.

"Beyond Art Therapy" is the concept from Dr. Stangline that combines all creative fields in therapy. It is not the traditional "art therapy" but goes beyond to include sand tray therapy, play therapy, mindfulness, meditation, color therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and a vast majority of other therapies.

For any other type of mental health emergency call your local 911 / Police Number immediately.

Dr. Stangline does not offer advice / suggestions to anyone who is not a professional mental health provider, or a student who is studying this field and has questions about mental health programs of study.

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