Counseling FAQs

Research supports the effectiveness of Play Therapy with children experiencing a wide variety of social, emotional, behavioral, and learning problems. Typical life stressors like divorce, death, relocation, crisis and trauma, and chronic illness understandably affect young children and Play Therapy can help them work through their feelings.

Play Therapy treatment plans are also utilized for anger management and for modification of behavioral disorders such as anxiety, depression, attention deficit hyperactivity (ADHD), academic and social developmental, physical and learning disabilities, and conduct disorders.

Although everyone benefits, Play Therapy is especially appropriate for children ages 3 through 12 years old.

Each Play Therapy session varies in length but usually lasts about 45 minutes. Sessions are usually held weekly. Research suggests that it takes an average of 20 Play Therapy sessions to resolve the problems of the typical child referred for treatment. Of course, some children may improve much faster while more serious or ongoing problems may take longer to resolve.

Families play an important role in children's healing processes. The interaction between children's problems and their families is always complex. Sometimes children develop problems as a way of signaling that there is something wrong in the family. Other times the entire family becomes distressed because the child's problems are so disruptive. In all cases, children and families heal faster when they work together.

The Play Therapist will make some decisions about how and when to involve some or all members of the family in the Play Therapy.

At a minimum, the therapist will want to communicate regularly with the child's caretakers to develop a plan for resolving problems as they are identified and to monitor the progress of the treatment. Other options might include involving a) the parents or caretakers directly in the treatment in what is called Filial Therapy and b) the whole family in Family Play Therapy.

Whatever the level the family members choose to be involved, they are an essential part of the child's healing.

Outcome research has proven the effectiveness of Filial Therapy, most notably in allowing children to verbalize their negative feelings and in helping parents develop more empathic behavior.
In their play encounters with the child parents learn ways of being with the child that show empathy and caring.

Through filial therapy, parents are helped to see below the surface, to understand the meaning of the child's message in the play, and to develop insight into the child's needs and feelings-to "see their child differently" and understand "how their child sees the situation." Between sessions, parents can guide and support new behavior, unlike regular counselors, and clear up any misperceptions of their child's appropriate or inappropriate behavior. There is a major advantage to the parent being a therapeutic agent for his or her own child because parents learn new attitudes and interpersonal techniques that are carried over after formal therapy ends. All of these things also help to boost the parent's morale-making him or her the instrument of change.

Parents also gain new and deeper understanding of their child, which weakens habitual negative patterns of interaction.

What Does "Filial" Mean?
The word "filial" stems from the Latin filialis, which means "of a son or daughter." Filial refers also to "any generation following the parent," thus the parent-child relationship in filial therapy.

In this type of counseling the horse acts as a metaphor for relationships, which provides clients the opportunity to look at what works, what doesnít work, whose needs are being met, whose problem it is, and to take responsibility for recognizing how personal actions affect others.

Because all horses are different, they each require different responses for clients to be successful. Through their experience with the horse, clients learn to observe and respond to behaviors of the horse instead of staying stuck in their current patterns. In addition, clients learn about their attitudes toward their temptations or addictions and identify the behaviors that can lead to relapse, handling frustration, challenges, and fear, while also learning healthy communication and problem-solving skills, and solutions that will lend to success.

Kay Sudekum Trotter has chosen to join a select few insurance panels (and is therefore not generally available as an in-network provider for most clients), Kay will however, provide paperwork, allowing the client to file for their own insurance reimbursements. Many successful, established mental health professionals do not join insurance panels for three reasons. First, there is a great deal of paperwork to submit for in-network benefits, making it an impractical use of the clinician's time. Second, the in-network filing process usually requires a significant breach of client confidentiality. For example; to meet the requirements for in-network reimbursement, the counselor must submit an official client diagnosis and an ongoing progress report, treatment plan, etc. Such information requires that the therapist divulge a good deal of personal information about the client, which then becomes part of his or her permanent medical record. Third, insurance panels fee schedules are well below national averages.

As psychological needs, wants and capacities vary from individual to individual; there is no easy answer to this question. In general, however, short-term therapy tends to be anywhere from 12 to 15 weeks. Long-term therapy takes additional time to go deeper and understand the origins of unwanted feelings and behaviors. Long term counseling, encouraging the patient to explore many aspects of his or her personality, uprooting self-defeating beliefs and limiting behavioral patterns. The length of therapy varies from one to two hours and is dependent on many factors such as: the seriousness of the difficulties experienced, the degree of personal resilience, and the amount of support available in the present living situation.

There are no ready-made answers for this question, as individuals differ widely in their psychological wants and needs, financial resources and overall personality structures. Of the various treatment options, however, a common meeting format involves weekly visits for 45-50 minute sessions. Contrary to many common misconceptions regarding the treatment process, psychotherapy includes hard work. Anyone who is able and willing to examine his or herself honestly and openly in the context of therapy will likely begin to see benefits of this personal work early in the treatment process.

The earliest signs of progress in therapy often manifest as increasing awareness of the various ways in which one is "stuck." Relatively early in treatment, one may likely begin to recognize self-defeating patterns or habits of thinking, feeling and behaving without necessarily being able to change them immediately. Later, after watching these habits at work and discussing with the therapist the causes and effects of these habits, the individual is able to make changes and let go of old patterns. As this self-actualization process deepens, one begins to feel more natural, spontaneous and at ease in all areas of life. Genuine emotions come more freely and relationships deepen. Old patterns of worrying and obsessing become much less disruptive.

Along the way, however, there are likely to be difficult times in treatment, and it is not uncommon for the dedicated client to experience occasional periods of increased confusion or anxiety—at times likely feeling angry with, resentful toward, or distrustful of the therapist. Ironically, although such times may be difficult, they can also be some of the most encouraging signs of progress and change.

It is common for the therapy client to be concerned regarding significant differences in his or her background and that of the therapist. The client may feel, for instance, that he or she maintains a strong belief in religion, philosophy, etc., that is not shared by the therapist. Similarly, differences in age, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity and overall life stage, can cause the client to wonder how the therapist could possibly relate to him or her. A trained therapist, however, usually works with all kinds of individuals from widely varying backgrounds. The sharing of specific beliefs or circumstances is not nearly so important as an understanding of how those background factors directly and indirectly affects the happiness and satisfaction of the client. At the same time, the therapist strives to understand the unique "worldview" of each client, and is sensitive to the enormous influence of culture and related life factors and experiences.