Sand Therapy

I came across a video ""0 to 5 in 30 Minutes! Sand Play Therapy"" that led me to this answer. This therapy technique is non-verbal. It explains why the most important tool that is being used in the room is the Sand Therapist themselves because they guide the play, maintain an attitude of readiness and acceptance from the moment the child walks in through the door. It also explains how one of the most important aspects is for the therapist to listen, how it connects the child's inner and outer worlds. I will also talk about how children are not always going to want to play out a traumatic event or a problem.

Release Therapy

Release Therapy is like story time with a twist. Children can create a puppet show, act out their feelings, or draw a picture. The importance of body language when using this technique and the importance of noticing what objects they chose to represent themselves or other people or things are big aspects and big parts to the story. Therapists also depict a picture by knowing the meanings of basic colors and how they will know what emotion each color means based on what is going on in the picture.

Blog 26: Senior Project Reflection

(1) Positive Statement

What are you most proud of in your 2-Hour Presentation and/or your senior project? Why?

One of the things I am most proud of is that I was able to explain everything in detail making sure that everyone was understanding what I was saying. Another thing I am proud of is that I was able to talk about serious stories I came a cross throughout my senior project without breaking down in tears of frustration because of what these children had to go through and face. Overall I am really proud of my senior project as a whole I have gained so much knowledge through this experience and if it wasn't for this project I would most likely still be unsure of the career I wish to pursue. 

(2) Questions to Consider

a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your 2-Hour Presentation (self-assessment)?

AE       P          AP       CR       NC

P+ to an AE

b.     What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project (self-assessment)?

AE       P          AP       CR       NC

P+ to an AE

(3) What worked for you in your senior project?

I think what worked the most throughout my senior project was having a mentor I was always able to talk to or email about any questions I had. 

(4) (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would have you done differently to improve your senior project if you could go back in time?

I think I would have really put more time into my Interviews and incorporated more follow up questions even if they were all questions I had already asked her the day or week before. (I had many informal interviews.)

(5) Finding Value

How has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors?  Be specific and use examples. 

Well as I stated before I have gained so much knowledge on my topic and my career choice. Something else that has been helpfull was my time at the day care where I was always interacting with the children helping them with their homework, playing with them, and sometimes having to give them a talk about misbehaving. By completing my independent component hours I was able to understand the way children think, communicate, and react to certain things. I will be using what I learned throughout my time in college, and throughout my career.

Mentorship

LIA Response to blog:
   Literal
·     Log of specific hours with a total and a description of your duties
·     Martha or Claudia (909) 985-0513
    Interpretive

    What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?

- Being a volunteer at the Samaritan Councling center I was unable to do much but clean the therapy rooms and help file papers, even though it does not seem like much making sure everything was properly filed made the therapists more comfortable knowing everything is being documented and concentrate more on their client. 
  Applied
    How has what you’ve done helped you to answer your EQ?  Please explain.

- The things I did in the center did not help me answer my EQ but I was able to get help from my mentor, Stacy Maggard  by her guiding me to my answered by telling me about books regarding different techniques used during child play therapy

Exit interview questions

(1) What is your essential question?  What is the best answer to your question and why?

- What is the most effective technique to use when treating a troubled child using child play therapy?

- As I continued to research I came across an article on Mental Health America stating, in order for a child to have a good mental health he/she needs to receive unconditional love from their family. This led me to my third and best answer, Filial Therapy. Filial therapy is my best answer because it involves a parent or someone who is close to the child making it easier for the child to be treated the most effectively by receiving the sense that they are being supported throughout the whole process. Having someone supporting the child makes everything easier for the child this is my best answer because even though release and sand therapy techniques are being done with the therapist and it allows he/she to better know the child, the child still needs the support and love from a parent or caregiver. 

(2) What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

- During my senior year I was only researching techniques that were used but after going to the day care, where I completed my independent component hours, I realized the importance of having a parent. A parent is a child's first role model and someone they look up to and at first I thought "well not every child has a parent" making me stray away from filial play therapy to be my answer. I kept going off this mindset for a almost the whole year until a few months ago when I ran into an article that told me the process in order to begin a filial therapy including a parent or caregiver assessment making sure this person is fit to lead the play during the session. A parent and/or a care giver is important in a child's life because of the role they play in the child's life of teaching them and allowing them to have a sense of security and belonging, without this sense of security and belonging the child's development would be disrupted and be harder to successfully treat the child since they do not have those senses. Showing the importance of a parent or caregiver to be present during therapy to continue to demonstrate the senses of belonging and security. 

(3) What problems did you face?  How did you resolve them?

- One of the problems that I faced from the very beginning of my senior project was not being able to have hands on experience with my topic. The reason for this was confidentiality issues. Because of this I was very interested on what really went on inside a therapy room, so i began to research techniques and eventually came to my essential question. I also began talking to my mentor Stacy as much as possible whether it was before, after, or in between her sessions. Stacy helped me by giving me titles of books that she used throughout her college experience and she also answered many of my questions by using her own experiences in the time that she had been a licensed therapist. I also looked to work with children because I was unable to talk or converse with the clients unless it was setting up appointments, answering phone calls, or greeting them as they walked in. I was able to work with children at a daycare there I was able to play with them, help them with their homework, study for upcoming tests, and just have conversations with each and everyone of them. 

(4) What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?

- One of my most important sources was an article I found titled "Fifteen Effective Play Therapy Techniques." by Schaefer, Charles E. In this article Charles explained in detail fifteen different techniques, it also included games or activities the child's family/caregivers can do at home to better the child. 

- My second most important source is my mentor Stacy Maggard. Even though I was unable to work hand in hand with her because of confidentiality issues I was allowed to talk to her in between, before, and after her therapy sessions with her clients. 

(5) What is your product and why?

As my product I learned to be patient and know how to handle children when they are misbehaving. I learned this during my time at the daycare where i was constantly interacting with te children wether it be halping the with their homework to simply playing with them. When I barely arrived I noticed I was very impatient with children when I was attempting to help them with their homework, in my head I would be thinking how is this too hard it's a simple addition problem. As I helped the children more and more I came to realize that each child doesn't learn the same and quickly adapted and learned from ever child. One of the girls there was very shy and did not like talking too much, even if she was struggling with her work she would refuse to get it. Later on she saw how I would interact with children around her and built up the courage to ask me for help I say down next to her and helped her with her English homework. Once she completed her work she went off and began to color on her own like she usually would. Before she left she came to me and gave me a folded paper and ran off to her mom when I opened it it was a drawing saying "thank-you very much" this is when I noticed that I was doing something right and I was finally being patient with the children. 

Blog 23: 2014 Interview

Content:

Interview 1: 

1.  Who did you interview and what house are they in?

- Diego Delgado, East House. 

2.  What ideas do you have for your senior project and why?

- He wants engineering to be his topic because he wants to Perdue this as his career. 

3.  What do you plan to do for your summer 10 hour mentorship experience?

- He is going to job shadow at an AirPort. 

4.  What do you hope to see or expect to see in watching the 2013 2-hour presentations?

- Wants to get an idea of what needs to be done throughout senior year and pay close attention to the presentation as a whole to get a feel for what's to come. 

5.  What questions do you have that I can answer about senior year or senior project (or what additional information did you tell them about senior year or senior project)?

- after choosing your senior topic what happens?

Once you have chosen your senior topic you start to have research checks every week. You also begin to develop your EQ and three answers to it to present for your 2 hour. Before your 2 hour you have ten minute which you will be presenting what you know about your topic and also thirty minute where you will be presenting your first or any of your answers. 

- Is there a paper you have to write on your topic? 

Isearch, it's about a 13 page paper that you will have to write. It's honestly not that hard because Ortega breaks it down into sections for you to work on piece by piece like each of your answers will consist of 2-3 pages of writing explaining your answer to your EQ. 

- Do you get a lot of group work? 

The only big group work you have senior year is model assembly. For MA you choose a bill you will be trying to get passed as a group. You'll do research regarding your bill and making sure you are able to defend it as well as you can to get people to either pass it or support it. 

- How was prom? 

Prom was a lot of fun for me because I spent it with the people I most enjoyed spending time with in and out of school. The most important part about it is to do just that and enjoy yourself and let loose and have no worries for one day. Even though for girls it may have caused stress trying to find the perfect dress and accessories to go with it in the end it will all be worth it. 

Interview 2:

1. Who did you interview and what house are they in?

- Interviewee: Jacqueline Gaeta . South House

2. What ideas do you have for your senior project and why?

- I really want to look into Nursing as a career and my 2 options is to explore either nutrition or registered nursing as a senior topic.

3.What do you plan to do for your summer 10 hour mentorship experience?

- I have already applied to volunteer at Casa Colina  which is a rehabilitation center in Pomona and I will be attending  an orientation in June, hopefully I can do my summer hours there.

4. What do you hope to see or expect to see in watching the 2013 2-hour presentations?

-I hope to get some of the stress to ease off my back, i also really want to get ideas of what to/not to do for my own presentation and maybe see how people went about in exploring their topic.

5. What questions do you have that I can answer about senior year or senior project (or what additional information did you tell them about senior year or senior project)?

-Nothing really, I have older sisters who have come here so I have an idea of what to expect.

Final 3-Column Chart

Three Column Chart