Game therapy and fairy tale therapy for children
(main tasks for organizing art-therapeutic space)
A child who comes to the office of a psychologist or psychotherapist must enter a magical world where a professional introduces him to the unlimited possibilities of ordinary toys. For a variety of purposes, a whole arsenal of professionally thought-out, versatile items that perform different functions has been prepared. So, in the work it is necessary to take into account the main tasks of psychological assistance to children:
— direct work to restore contact of all members of social systems and combine their efforts, directing them to the development of the child;
— in the process of cooperation with a psychologist, restore distorted or previously disturbed social contact;
— direct action to restore mutual understanding and emotional contact between children and adults;
— use the classroom and collection of toys to form children’s skills and optimize their transfer to a real social situation;
— to ensure creative interaction of all subjects of the correctional process;
— adequately direct help from significant adults;
— provide psychological assistance to the child and significant adults at the same time;
— corrective influence on all spheres of the child’s mental activity — motor, cognitive, emotional-volitional;
— to integrate various psychotherapeutic areas in the process of working with a child;
— take into account the typological characteristics of the child;
— promptly solve the actual psychological problems of the child;
— to ensure the formation of the necessary psychological neoplasms,
— make a choice of specific forms and means of correction based on an analysis of the current level and zone of proximal development of the child;
— to form corrective actions taking into account the peculiarities of the real social situation in which the child is;
— motivate the child to overcome the child’s ineffective defensive reactions and role positions;
— purposefully form the child’s higher mental functions;
— to form an internal plan of action for the child;
— to orient the child in the senses and in the operational sense of the activity, which will make it possible to compensate for unfavorable tendencies;
— to implement corrective actions, taking into account the age characteristics of the child;
— carry out correction, based on the strengths of the child’s personality and his well-developed higher mental functions and skills;
— to conduct psychological classes in an emotionally attractive form [3].
Play therapy, from the point of view of A.I. Zakharov [1], performs three functions: diagnostic, therapeutic and educational. When organizing a game, the following rules must be observed:
— the choice of game topics should reflect the interests of the child;
— leadership of the game by an adult helps to develop the independence and initiative of children;
— you should not comment and interfere with the children’s game;
— an adult in the game is sincerely interested in the child and tries to build a warm, caring relationship with him;
— an adult creates a sense of security in the child, the opportunity to freely express his own «I»;
— an adult must believe in the child’s ability to act responsibly, independently solving personal problems.
Games cannot be organized without toys. By observing what toys a child chooses, one can make assumptions about his mental state. VK. Losev [2; p.54] notes that, observing the child’s play, one can analyze the following points:
— which toy the child chooses, and which ones he distributes to the rest of the participants;
— what is the plot of the invented game and how does it end;
— what methods of solving problems the child chooses during the game (aggression, passivity, asking for help, flight, magical transformations, etc.);
— what is the role of parents in children’s games (blocking the initiative, providing freedom of action, trying to play instead of them or with them, etc.).
The non-pragmatic meaning of the toy allows it to be used in different situations of the game, making this item magical, or, more precisely, magical. The world of such objects is constantly changing, in contrast to the world of «serious», adult things and the world of toys corresponding to them with a fixed pragmatic meaning. The world of constantly transforming objects is magical. It is to this «third» world that the direct realization of the child’s desires, which go beyond the simple desire to imitate adults, goes. By imitating, the child remains small, and he can become big only in a magical, magical world. By the way, it is precisely the heightened experience by a child of this age of the opposition «big — small» that determines the eternal interest of children in fairy tales about giants and midgets. And this experience itself becomes especially relevant because in the game the child already imitates the actions of adults, but cannot carry them out “in reality” [2, p.26].
The psychologist must create a place that will have a healing effect on the child, so it is important to remember a number of points that provide mechanisms for correction and therapy. The main condition for success is a collection of toys, which contributes to the ability to objectify one’s feelings, emotions, needs, problems, fears, anxieties and, of course, the desires and dreams of a child.
The use of toys performs a number of important psychocorrectional and psychotherapeutic tasks, namely:
— comprehensive diagnosis of the child;
— to achieve an increase in the child’s self-esteem, self-confidence by acquiring new skills, achieving success in school and everyday life;
— to develop in the child a sense of responsibility for their own actions;
— to form their own reality in the process of corrective interaction;
— acting out and adapting to polar roles that are not typical for the child at this stage of correction;
— comfortable and environmentally friendly to adapt to new conditions of life;
— apply new forms of communication with adults and peers;
— effectively play and simulate ways out of difficult family situations;
— relieve tension and virtually realize your desires and fantasies;
— get used to new socially acceptable patterns of behavior;
— symbolic modeling self-organizes the child;
— purposeful modeling of positive emotions ensures their automation;
— constructively play out actual conscious or unconscious emotional conflicts of the child.
Consider the main aspects of creating a collection of toys for individual and group psychotherapy and psychocorrection of children, adolescents and adults. Before you create a collection of toys, it is important to consider the main purpose of the collection.
So, for sandy Jungian psychotherapy, the height of the figures should be no more than 8-10 centimeters. This is due to the creation of a realistic space for simulation, control of the situation in the game. This form of psychotherapy takes place, as a rule, in a specially organized sandbox measuring 50 by 70 centimeters.
There are no such strict restrictions for psychological correction and game therapy, toys can be up to 15 centimeters. But it is still worth considering a number of factors when choosing toys.
Rules for the selection of toys for play therapy and fairy tale therapy:
1. The toy is convenient to take in a child’s hand.
2. The figures and parts should not fall off, they should be strong enough so as not to distract the child from the worries associated with the fact that he can break the toy.
3. Part of the toys should be realistic, part stylized and part abstract (used as a substitute).
4. Toys must be made of different materials (wood, plastic, rubber, fabric, glass, metal, paper), which is an additional diagnostic moment for a psychologist.
5. Different for color design.
6. Toys should fit comfortably on the shelf.
7. Toys must be whole and broken, old and new, beautiful and scary, flat and voluminous (as a diagnostic of spatial perception of the world).
8. Toys from real life and toys that symbolize fantastic images.
9. Toys that reflect the present, and toys that symbolize the life and customs of the past, futuristic toys.
10. Toys are symbols of nature and symbols of civilization, urbanization and progress.
11. All figures are sorted into groups.
12. Each group should be clearly visible on the shelves. For convenience, taller figures are placed further.
The organization of the art therapy space occupies an important place in the system of psychological assistance to the child and the family, therefore, the use of principles and tasks enables the psychologist to rationally and effectively carry out the process of correction and psychotherapy.
Literature
1. Zakharov A. I. Game as a way to overcome neuroses in children / A. I. Zakharov. — St. Petersburg: KARO, 2006. — 416 p.
2. Loseva V.K., Lunkov A.I. Psychosexual development of the child. — M.: A.P.O., 1995. — P.64.
3. Matveeva O. A. Forms and means of organizing complex psychological care for children of primary and secondary school age: thesis of a doctor of psychological sciences: 19.00.13 — Moscow, 2002. — 489 p.