Hello Play Therapists!

With the wonderment of spring upon us, I have been thinking a lot about spring cleaning and the importance of doing this not just externally, but internally as well.

It is a great time to clean out your play room and go through your toys, dress ups, and art supplies.

Make a list to restock, repair, and reuse different items.

Once the outside is taken care of, now it is time to do some spring cleaning on the inside.

Think about cases or experiences you are carrying around with you and apply the same level of care and cleaning to these different issues. Are there things you are ready to discard, repair, or replace?

One of my favorite ways to do this for myself is to create a collage of my “two wolves”– the different parts of me that are in constant battle with each other.

When we can put the internal conflict into a tangible, distinct, separate space from us, we can see it in a different way and gain insight into why there is the conflict taking place and what parts of self we are neglecting or indulging.

Spring is a time of renewal. I hope that you will find a renewed sense of purpose, confidence, and drive in your work with our little ones (whether they are three or ninety-three years old!).

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Thanks to Clair Mellenthin, LCSW, RPTS for this submission! You can get more from Clair on her website.

Also, catch Clair in action at her upcoming PESI workshops in Oregon and New York.