Big Behaviors in Small Containers: 131 Trauma-Informed Play Therapy Interventions for Disorders of Dysregulation

When it comes to working with dysregulated children, sometimes the biggest behaviours come in the smallest containers.

From tantrums and defiance to self-injury and withdrawal, even the most skilled professionals find themselves focused on extinguishing the troubling behaviour rather than stepping back to ask: What is the underlying emotional need?

In Big Behaviors in Small Containers, you’ll find 131 practical, fun, and ready-to-use play therapy interventions that shift the paradigm around problematic behaviours to allow for therapeutic growth and healing. Based on TraumaPlay®, a treatment approach that prioritises attachment, co-regulation, and the science of the stress response system, the interventions inside will help kids:

• Develop a sense of safety and security
• Expand their window of tolerance
• Cope adaptively with anger, anxiety, and other strong emotions
• Enhance their emotional literacy
• Strengthen social skills and self-esteem
• Challenge and overcome unhelpful thoughts
• Develop a coherent narrative around trauma and other difficult experiences
• And more!

Whether you’re a therapist, teacher, doctor, caregiver, or trusted grown-up in a child’s life, the tools inside will allow you to become the co-regulating, nurturing, and consistent presence that your “small container” needs to remain grounded in the face of stress, big feelings, and difficult situations.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction xiii

Chapter 1 Treatment Planning and Goal Setting 1

1. The Problem/The Problem All Better 3
2. Deepening the Path 6
3. Paving the Path 8
4. Three Wishes 10
5. Goals for Growth 13
6. Bridging the Gap 15

Chapter 2 Enhancing Safety and Augmenting Adaptive Coping 17

1. The Coping Tree 19
2. Cope Cakes 22
3. Coping Kabobs 26
4. The Coping Cave 27
5. Coping Menu 29
6. Community Crown 32
7. Safe Place Sand Tray 34
8. Creating Your Digital Safe Place 35
9. Postcards in Motion 36

Chapter 3 Enhancing Attachment 39

1. Airplane Love Notes 41
2. Love Links 45
3. Stick Together Bookmarks 48
4. Stick Together Light-Up Towers 49
5. Love Connectors 50
6. Nurture Necklaces 51
7. Longtime Levies 52
8. Comfort Creatures 53
9. Care for Me 55
10. Conch Connections 56
11. Family Fun Fortune Tellers 57
12. Stick Together Ice Cubes 61
13. Who Knows Whom? 64
14. Rupture and Repair 67
15. Superhero Dyads 70
16. "I Value You" Valentines 72
17. "With Me" Water Bottles 74
18. Bejeweling Affirmations 76
19. I'm a Robot 77
20. Heartfelt Follow-the-Leader 78

Chapter 4 Understanding Our Stress Responses 79

1. WOT Are You? 81
2. My Brain and My Window 84
3. Making My Window 86
4. Who Is Amy G. Dala? 87
5. What Is Amy G. Saying Now? 89
6. Soothing Amy G 91
7. Embedding Amy G 92
8. Maraca Madness 93
9. Balancing on the Head of a Pin 94
10. The Polyvagal Zoo 97
11. Sleuth the Sloth 100
12. Farmers and the Fainting Goat 101

Chapter 5 Enhancing Self-Regulation 103

1. Personalized Pinwheels 105
2. Five-Count Breathing 108
3. Weighed Down 110
4. Modulate with Music 111
5. Yoga Tunes 112
6. Somatic Scavenger Hunt 113
7. Cooked and Uncooked Spaghetti 115
8. Rock-a-Bye Baby 119
9. Cool as a Cucumber 120
10. Hum Bugs 122
11. Still-the-Struggle Socks 124
12. Relaxation Reminders 126
13. Zip… But Don't Flip! 128
14. A Mindful Meal 130
15. Finessing the Feel 132
16. I Can Calm My Body 133
17. Roll the Regulation Dice 135

Chapter 6 Impulse Control and Anger Management 137

1. Troubling Task Timer 139
2. Conducting Chaos 142
3. Glow-in-the-Dark Freeze Dance 143
4. Count the Cost 144
5. Red Light, Green Light Scribble 145
6. Anger Buttons 147
7. Who's Pressing Your Buttons? 151
8. It's a Crap Shoot 153
9. Under the Eruption 156
10. Alibaba and His Bucking Camel 159
11. How to Defuse a Bomb 160
12. Are You Ready for the Boom? 164

Chapter 7 Emotional Literacy 167

1. Color Your Heart 168
2. Feelings Rhyme Book 171
3. Mood Manicure 173
4. Sands of Time 176
5. Super-Feeling Fruits and Vegetables 177
6. Feelings Soup 179
7. Secret Messages 180
8. Revealing Your Feelings 182
9. Standing in It Together 184
10. Chalk Bombs 185
11. "Parts of Me" Journal 187

Chapter 8 Enhancing Social Skills and Self-Esteem 191

1. Fishing for Compliments 193
2. LEGO® Collaboration 195
3. Boundary Catchers 196
4. Social Solar System 199
5. Follow the Leader-Drumming in Dyads 201
6. Sharing Your Treasures 202
7. Clay Roses 204
8. Magnify the Feel-Goods 206
9. Sand Tray Circles 208
10. My Pampering Pizza 209
11. Putting a Positive Spin on it 211

Chapter 9 Addressing the Thought Life 213

1. Inner Critic 215
2. Inner Kindness 217
3. Worries and a Zen Artist Board 218
4. The Chewing-it-Up Brain 219
5. Lose the Bruise 220
6. Helpful Thoughts 224
7. Pick It Up or Lay It Down? 226
8. The Recycler and the Shredder 228
9. Rigid Rob/Flexible Fred 229
10. A Little Birdie Told Me 234
11. Spotlight Scribble, and Change 237
12. Flex Your Muscles 238
13. Mistake Snake 239
14. The Why Chain 241
15. Flipping Thoughts 243

Chapter 10 Storykeeping: Holding Hard Stories and Building Coherent Narratives 247

1. Puzzles with Caregivers 249
2. Excavating Hard Things 251
3. The Toddler Book 253
4. Secret Book Safe 254
5. Timeline Garden 256
6. Shoebox House 257
7. Sand in My Eyes 258
8. Googly-Eye Hop 260
9. Walk It Through 261
10. Full-Circle Sand Trays 262

Chapter 1 Graduation: Making a Meaningful Goodbye 263

1. Graduation Caps 265
2. Treatment Takeaways 266
3. Mending Broken Pieces of My Heart 267
4. Cookie Jar 268
5. Family Flowerpot 272
6. Memory Markers 273
7. Caregiver Kudos 275
8. Love Letters for Later 277

References 279