How to Talk About Feelings with Kids
Watch the Balloon Metaphor Demonstration
A good metaphor for feelings is to think about a balloon.
Just like a balloon filling with air, our thoughts and feelings fill us and if we don't manage the buildup, the balloon and our behaviors could explode. This is especially true for children who don’t yet have the words to articulate how they're feeling.
When we're flexible and calm, we can bend, stretch and twist like a balloon; safely releasing our feelings and emotions when we're overhwlemed, instead of exploding.
One benefit of therapy is that our clients can let their feelings out little by little in a safe environment - and you can help them by incorporating play in your sessions.
By incorporating play into our trauma treatment models, we give words to the voiceless and power to the powerless.
Watch the Balloon Metaphor demonstrated by Jennifer Lefebre, Psy.D., RPT-S
Just like a balloon filling with air, our thoughts and feelings fill us and if we don't manage the buildup, the balloon and our behaviors could explode. This is especially true for children who don’t yet have the words to articulate how they're feeling.
When we're flexible and calm, we can bend, stretch and twist like a balloon; safely releasing our feelings and emotions when we're overhwlemed, instead of exploding.
One benefit of therapy is that our clients can let their feelings out little by little in a safe environment - and you can help them by incorporating play in your sessions.
By incorporating play into our trauma treatment models, we give words to the voiceless and power to the powerless.
Watch the Balloon Metaphor demonstrated by Jennifer Lefebre, Psy.D., RPT-S
Want to effortlessly blend play into your clinical practice?
By incorporating play into our trauma treatment models, we give words to the voiceless and power to the powerless.
Let Jennifer Lefebre, Psy.D., RPT-S teach you the tools, strategies and techniques you need to effortlessly blend play into your clinical practice.
Join her for this comprehensive certification course, and I'll show you, step-by-step, how you can help heal unspeakable heartache and offer your clients hope through the power of play.
Get started now with your Certification in Trauma Treatment for Children & Adolescents.
Let Jennifer Lefebre, Psy.D., RPT-S teach you the tools, strategies and techniques you need to effortlessly blend play into your clinical practice.
Join her for this comprehensive certification course, and I'll show you, step-by-step, how you can help heal unspeakable heartache and offer your clients hope through the power of play.
Get started now with your Certification in Trauma Treatment for Children & Adolescents.
Meet the Expert:
Jennifer Lefebre, PsyD, RPT-S, is a clinical psychologist and Registered Play Therapist – Supervisor. Her clinical and research interests center on the assessment and treatment of children, adolescents, adults and families whose lives have been impacted by complex trauma. She has extensive experience working with young children (0-5), adult survivors of severe childhood abuse and neglect, first responders, and combat veterans.
Dr. Lefebre is the clinical director at Healing the Child Within, a holistic trauma center in northwestern Connecticut, which integrates psychotherapy, yoga, and eastern philosophies into the treatment of complex trauma. She also provides clinical supervision and play therapy consultation throughout New England and online, and is an infant and early childhood mental health consultant. She has worked in residential treatment, psychiatric inpatient, community mental health settings, and schools, whole teaching both at the undergraduate and graduate level and providing trainings around the country.
She has received specialized training in many modalities, to include Trauma Sensitive Yoga (TC-TSY), Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), Attachment, Regulation and Competency (ARC), Sensory Motor Arousal Regulation Therapy (SMART), Theraplay, and Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT-A). She is working towards becoming an EMDRIA-approved consultant, and is an EMDR (Level II) clinician.
Learn more about her educational products, including upcoming live seminars, by clicking here.
Dr. Lefebre is the clinical director at Healing the Child Within, a holistic trauma center in northwestern Connecticut, which integrates psychotherapy, yoga, and eastern philosophies into the treatment of complex trauma. She also provides clinical supervision and play therapy consultation throughout New England and online, and is an infant and early childhood mental health consultant. She has worked in residential treatment, psychiatric inpatient, community mental health settings, and schools, whole teaching both at the undergraduate and graduate level and providing trainings around the country.
She has received specialized training in many modalities, to include Trauma Sensitive Yoga (TC-TSY), Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), Attachment, Regulation and Competency (ARC), Sensory Motor Arousal Regulation Therapy (SMART), Theraplay, and Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT-A). She is working towards becoming an EMDRIA-approved consultant, and is an EMDR (Level II) clinician.
Learn more about her educational products, including upcoming live seminars, by clicking here.
