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Play Therapy: What Is It, and What Can I Expect from It?

Play Therapy: What Is It, and What Can I Expect from It?

Meltdowns at the grocery store. Screaming before bedtime. Sullen silences in the car on the way home from an activity that was supposed to be fun. That’s a normal part of parenting.

It becomes harder when your child is engaging in these behaviors more than is normal for their age. Even though children are verbal, they often express themselves through behaviors. There can be outward behaviors, like meltdowns, tantrums, and fights. There are also inward behaviors, like being sad often, withdrawn, or not as engaged in their favorite things as they usually are. Because behaviors are often how children communicate their experiences, these things may be a sign that a child could benefit from play therapy.

Bad Moments Do Not Make Bad Mothers

Bad Moments Do Not Make Bad Mothers

 I was sitting in an ice cream shop with my kids and husband one Saturday afternoon many months ago and a TV was showing the news in a corner of the shop. A few days prior, a 4 year old boy fell into a gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo, and this was the story on every news channel all weekend long. As we know, he survived the incident, but the gorilla was shot dead to protect the young boy’s life. One of the shop owners was sweeping near the TV and commented to another employee that they "just should have shot the mother instead." My stomach lurched in shock and anger; but, apparently this sentiment had been echoed in comment sections, petitions, and Twitter feeds around the world.  What is it, I wondered, that made people feel that the only logical conclusion to this terrible accident was that she was a bad mother?