Addressing diversity issues in play therapy

Globalization is upon us, resulting in almost daily exposure to and interaction with highly diverse populations. To practice ethical play therapy, play therapists must become culturally competent. Play therapists are called on both to address cultural issues in therapy and to facilitate children’s pride in, and preservation of, their culture. Despite this, the existing literature on cultural competence in psychotherapy has rarely been applied to play therapy practice. The author’s goal is to do just that so as to provide play therapists with a model relevant to their work. Play therapists must first fully understand the concept of culture and its potential impact on their own lives, the lives of their clients, and the play therapy process. Second, play therapists need to develop adequate levels of culturally related awareness, skills, and knowledge. Last, they can ensure the work they do is more culturally sensitive and competent by following basic guidelines. “The community surrounding the school at which I work is experiencing a significant influx of new immigrants. As a group, they are experiencing many adjustment difficulties and the children are being referred to me for play therapy. I have no experience with this population and feel terribly incompetent. How do I even approach working with children from backgrounds so different from my own?” This situation is being repeated at schools and clinics across the United States as well as many other countries as the speed of globalization slowly but surely increases. Play therapists find themselves in the very difficult position not only of needing to understand the impact of a particular culture on the children they see but of having to negotiate between the dominant culture, the family’s culture of origin, and their rapidly acculturating child clients. However, the existing literature on therapists’ cultural competence in psychotherapy has rarely been applied to the practice of play therapy. This article presents some issues for play therapists working with diverse populations to consider, some suggestions on how therapists can improve their cultural sensitivity, and some guidelines for engaging in the practice of culturally competent play therapy. Over approximately the past two decades, there has been continuous progress in recognizing the importance of having all mental health professionals develop multicultural awareness, knowledge, and skills to the ethical practice of psychotherapy. In a report prepared by a task force of the American Psychological Association (APA), this value was taken a step further in the statement “[we] call upon psychologists to recognize their professional role in an ever-evolving pluralistic society: to value, affirm and celebrate the richness of individual and cultural diversity within society” (Fouad, Arredondo, Ivey, & D’Andrea, 2002 p. 292). It is not sufficient for therapists to be aware of a client’s cultural differences; they must guard against the tendency of traditional, Western forms of therapy to gradually assimilate the client into the dominant culture. The role of an advocate for multiculturalism is inherently a values-laden task that requires therapists to make and convey values-laden decisions (Merit Council, 2002). To date, psychotherapy, by its very nature, has been a process in which clients learn to get their needs met within the context of a larger family, community, or society. As a result, the tendency has been to help nondominant culture clients learn to live within the dominant culture. The APA task force asks psychologists to resist the tendency to move toward assimilation and to value, affirm, and celebrate diversity. One of the most difficult tasks for those working with children is to balance the needs of the parents who are typically more embedded in and committed to the culture of origin with the needs of their children who often must spend most of their day in systems developed by and for the dominant culture. Although considerable literature exists on the culturally competent practice of psychotherapy, this article attempts to apply that knowledge to the specific demands of the practice of play therapy. For the purposes of this article, all types of diversity are being subsumed under the general rubric of culture. That is, the term culture is being used to delimit any and all group memberships that form a part of the child’s identity. These group memberships may include, but are not limited to, gender, gender role, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, age, physical ability/disability, religion, and social class. The term culture also includes the concepts of perceived culture and internalized culture. Perceived culture refers to