Next Level Play Therapy: A Podcast for Play Therapy Excellence

What is Bias in Play Therapy?


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Mental health professionals are human beings who bring all of themselves into the counseling process to walk alongside their clients in the healing process.

Humans are prone to biases and imperfection, including those in the mental health field.

Play therapy is no different.

Maybe that’s one of the reasons we tend to be a little neurotic about self-reflection and pondering why we do certain things.  😆

I’ve often said to my husband over the last thirty years in mental health that I’m tired of self-reflecting all the time and that I just want to be in a job where I can feel free to be a butthead – 

Not really, (most of the time) because I feel waaaaay too guilty afterward wondering how much I hurt the person who was the recipient of my less than lovely behavior …

and then I spend the next couple of hours self-reflecting on why I behaved the way I did and then I’m emotionally exhausted 🤣 – just keepin’ it real. 

Sound familiar? 😵‍💫

On a serious note, though, one of the reasons we’re trained to be self-reflective is so that we reduce the potential for harm to our clients by our own imperfections.  

This includes self-reflection about our biases (and yes – we all have them)

What are biases in therapy and why is bias a problem?  

How does bias show up in play therapy?

What can we do about our biases in play therapy?

In this week’s podcast episode, I’m discussing what is bias in play therapy and how it negatively impacts successful treatment outcomes if we aren’t willing to dive into shadow (a little Jungian metaphor there 🤓)

Recognizing and naming our biases ensures we can provide quality play therapy services to support children and their families in the healing process in a way that is meaningful for them.


#playtherapy #playtherapyworks #playtherapymatters #playtherapyplayroom  #playtherapist #playtherapyaroundtheworld #playtherapyinternational #expressivearts #expressiveartstherapies  #expressiveartstherapy #expressivearttherapy #sandtraytherapy #childtherapy #adolescenttherapy #childrensmentalhealth #adolescentmentalhealth #mentalhealthmatters #mentalhealth #playtherapytraining #expressiveartstherapytraining #renewingheartstraining #renewingheartsconsulting

Join my free Facebook Community Play and Expressive Arts Therapy Playground.

Check out my free resources for mental health professionals working with children, adolescents, and families who want to integrate play therapy and expressive arts into their clinical work.

I work with individuals and agencies to develop successful strategies and meet the treatment needs of your child and adolescent clients and their families using play therapy & expressive arts.

Contact me to schedule a free 30-minute video call if you're ready to level up your skills

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Next Level Play Therapy: A Podcast for Play Therapy ExcellenceBy Cathi Spooner, LCSW, RPT-S


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