(Seguin) – Children in Seguin now have an opportunity to explore their emotional issues while learning to cope better with their own everyday struggles.
Guadalupe Regional Medical Center (GRMC) is proud to announce that Teddy Buerger Center clinician, Sunny Bao, LPC, has completed her three years of training to become a Registered Play Therapist (RPT).
Bao says she has met the specific criteria to provide the service locally and is registered through the Association for Play Therapy.
“Play therapy serves the purpose of helping kids age 3 to 12 who struggle. For instance, they have difficulty in school, behavioral issues or at home or they struggle with anxiety, depression, life stressors or grief. Sometimes, it can be family conflicts, children having a hard time going through a parents’ divorce, anger, trauma and so much more,” said Bao.
Chris Mata, director of behavioral health at GRMC says she is pleased to welcome Bao’s new training – a training that has been rare or nonexistent up until now.
“I am so honored to see Sunny accomplish the stringent credentialing process to become a Registered Play Therapist,” said Mata. “The fulfillment of the credentialing process takes three years and is granted only to those who hold master’s level licensure to practice as independent therapists, 150 hours of continuing education specific to play therapy, and 35 hours of supervision.”
Through play, health officials say children can learn new coping mechanisms and how to redirect behaviors.
They say the primary goal of play therapy is to help children who might struggle with expressing themselves, or their emotions, to manage these feelings through play. Play therapy can include interacting with sand trays, miniatures, doll houses, puppets, board games, art, books, and more.
After volunteering as a counseling intern in 2010 in a homeless shelter, Bao says she noticed that many adults were struggling emotionally, mentally, and physically due to trauma and unresolved issues in their childhood. Bao says that is when she started to be interested in helping children work through their trauma and various life situations.
“I’ve seen great changes in kids’ lives. So, I will have parent meetings every four to five sessions as I’m seeing kids and I’ve had feedback. I will say 90 to 95 (percent) of parents are telling me great changes after the first four to five sessions. For instance, aggressive behavior towards siblings or in school, acting out, anger issues, anxiety – I’ve seen several children who are struggling with separation anxiety and after five to eight sessions, they are all good to go and they are able to go to school without any anxiety,” said Bao.
Bao says she is excited about welcoming children to her office and looks forward to helping as many children as possible.
“We need a doctor’s referral either from the children’s pediatrician or their primary care doctor for referral and then our staff will help them,” said Bao.
The Teddy Buerger Center is located next door to GRMC at 1215 E. Court St.