BROOKINGS – School and play seem to be on opposite ends of the spectrum, but a counseling theory now being taught at South Dakota State University is putting them together.

Staci Born, an assistant professor in the Department of Counseling and Human Development, started teaching the classes after arriving here two years ago. While the Association for Play Therapy has been around since 1982, the theory is still relatively new to South Dakota. There are only six registered play therapists in the state, Born said.

Born is now teaching her second cohort of 10 students, who will become registered therapists upon completing the program. The first cohort started in June 2017 and graduated this August. The second cohort started this June.

“What we know about children’s development is they can’t talk about their feelings. Using play objects is much more developmentally appropriate. Children don’t verbalize their feelings in the same way as adults,” said Born, who became a registered play therapist in 2013 while pursuing her doctorate at the Minnesota State University, Mankato.

One of the first to enroll in her class was Krista Groeneweg, who has been a school counselor at Harrisburg North Middle School for the past 10 years.

She enrolled in the program after becoming familiar with play therapy techniques through demonstrations she had witnessed at multiple workshops.

Middle schoolers not too old to play                       

But Groeneweg, who earned a master’s degree in school counseling from SDSU in 2007, works with sixth- to eighth-graders. 

“At first, I was worried how my students were going to react. Are they going to be too old for this? They’re not. I have started incorporating toys into my counseling including a (desktop) sandbox in my front office. Kids will come in here and just sit and play in the sand. It really helps them relax.”

Sandbox therapy is not building sand castles, but using counselor-provided figurines that students choose to tell their own story.    

Groeneweg said, “One play therapy technique I like to use is the kinetic school drawing. Students are asked to depict themselves, a friend or two and a teacher. Each person in the picture should be drawn doing something. Afterwards the students are asked guided questions about their drawing. This technique is a great way for me to gather insight into students’ school experience and guide the therapy to help the students work towards self-acceptance.

“Other toys my students enjoy include magnetics and Theraputty. I find that playing with the toys helps students feel more relaxed and put them at ease as they share their feelings. I used to think that play therapy was just allowing kids to play. But it is actually a therapy and is research based.”

Groeneweg earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from SDSU in 1992 and then applied it in the most challenging of venues – a day care center. 

“My background in day care was part of the reason I was attracted to play therapy.”   

SDSU program offers four courses

Born explains that she studied under Professor John Seymour, who sits on the board of the Association for Play Therapy, when she was earning her master’s and doctorate degrees from the Minnesota State, Mankato. That was when she started to take play seriously and practiced play therapy in 2011-2014 while earning her doctorate.

“Play therapy is proven to be effective with children experiencing a variety of social, emotional, behavioral and learning problems,” Born said.

SDSU’s play therapy program offers four courses (seven total credits) that can be completed in one year and provide the required 150 hours of training to become a registered play therapist or a school-based registered play therapist. The courses focus on history, theories of play therapy, techniques, family play and a practicum experience.

The practicum also includes the practice of group therapy, which is what Groeneweg is doing this summer with six to eight Harrisburg seventh- and eighth-graders.

‘It breaks down the stigma’

She hopes to be able to use play therapy more in the coming school year. In 2017-18, she estimated she did play therapy with 50 students in an individual or group setting. That’s out of a student body of 650 students. 

This year, she hopes to be able to go into classrooms to work with students who may have additional social and emotional needs. 

Another option is to bring students into her office during lunch or advisory time. 

“Finding time to meet with students can be challenging in a school environment,” she said.

But she is encouraged by the addition of a second counselor at Harrisburg North this year and by the reception students have had to play therapy. 

“Students are able to say in a more relaxing way how they’re feeling. Things come out that they may not have felt comfortable telling me. It also breaks down the stigma of coming to the counselor’s office.

“Last year a student was visiting the school. They brought her into my office and she said, ‘This looks like a play area.’ It helped the student feel comfortable coming in.”

Play therapy grads

The first cohort of SDSU’s new play therapy program, which graduated in August, includes:

• Ashley Bechen, Brookings

• Kristine DeJaeghere-Tillett, Brandon

• Debra DePauw, Watertown

• Krista Groeneweg, Harrisburg

• Erin Kapsch, Brookings

• Holly Kelly, Sioux Falls

• Rhiannon Nedland, Brookings

• Kelsi Stricherz, Huron

• Katelyn Tilstra, Sioux Falls

• Cruz Trujillo Rodriguez, Sioux Falls

SDSU photo: Play therapy student Deb Griffith helps 4-1/2-year-old Marlee Born with a toy stroller in the Fishback Preschool Laboratory on the South Dakota State University campus. Griffith, of Watertown, is part of the first cohort of students to enroll in SDSU’s new play therapy program. They graduated in August.