8
S moke S ignals
APRIL 1, 2019
Using play to promote healing
Therapy helps Tribe’s youngest members conquer difficulties
By Danielle Frost
Smoke Signals staff writer
Famed physicist Albert Einstein
referred to play as “the highest form
of research” and other experts have
noted play therapy is a powerful
tool for addressing cognitive, be-
havioral and emotional challenges.
With this in mind, the Grand
Ronde Tribe’s Behavioral Health
Department started offering a
play therapy program to help its
youngest members cope with life’s
challenges.
Mental Health Counselor Brian
Jones expressed interest in start-
ing a child-centered program last
summer, a year after he was hired
by the Tribe to work as a mental
health counselor.
He first was intro-
duced to play ther-
apy while working
with youth at a
Kansas communi-
ty health center.
“ I wa s seeing
kids for therapy
sessions and I
wasn’t sure what
to do with them,”
he said. “A ther-
apist there intro-
duced me to play Mental Health Specialist Tony Lai sits in the child play
therapy as a way room in the Behavioral Health office on Wednesday,
to help me connect March 13. Lai is a registered Play Therapy Supervisor
with the kids bet- who is contracted with the Tribe to provide supervision
ter.”
to Mental Health Counselor Brian Jones as needed.
After Jones be-
gan working for the Tribe in August
through language, children some-
2017, he noticed that there wasn’t
times cannot do that,” Lai said.
a specific counseling program for
“Through toys and play, they can
children. He approached Health
allow the therapist to see things
& Wellness Quality Improvement
through their perspective.”
Manager Dawn Doar to see what
Lai travels to Grand Ronde twice
could be done.
a month to meet with Jones and
“I told her I wanted to see kids,
offer assistance on cases.
but needed additional training,”
“The benefit of play therapy is
he said. “She was very receptive to
that we do a lot of attachment work
the idea.”
with kids and parents,” he said.
That is where registered Play
“We help kids and parents work on
Therapy Supervisor Tony Lai came
their relationship and also with so-
in. He began contracting with the
cial skill training. For example, we
Tribe to assist Jones with his child
show a parent how to acknowledge
counseling efforts.
their child’s feelings and also help
“Play is something that chil-
the child with their coping skills.”
dren do naturally and as adults,
Doar said that some of the best
while we can express our thoughts
aspects of the program are being
Take a Veteran Fishing
event set for July
The Take a Soldier Fishing organization is planning its eighth
annual Take a Veteran Fishing event on Friday and Saturday, July
12-13, at Shelter Cove Resort on Odell Lake, which is 62 miles east
of Eugene in Crescent.
The event also welcomes disabled veterans and recently returned
veterans from overseas deployment. The event is drug- and alco-
hol-free and fishing tackle will be provided.
It is limited to 55 veterans; family members are welcome, but boat
spaces will be assigned only to veterans.
To sign up, go to www.takeasoldierfishing.org.
Transportation can be arranged from Vancouver, Portland, Salem
and Eugene. Friday dinner, Saturday breakfast and lunch, and Sun-
day breakfast will be provided.
For more information, contact Grand Ronde Veterans Special
Events Board Chairman Raymond Petite at 541-480-5932 or Bernie
Hoene at hoene1@wildblue.net or 503-509-3507.
Photos by Timothy J. Gonzalez
Mental Health Counselor Brian
Jones sits in the child play room
in the Behavioral Health office
on Wednesday, March 13. He
expressed interest in starting
a child-centered program last
summer, a year after he was hired
by the Tribe to work as a mental
health counselor.
able to offer children an opportuni-
ty to express themselves in health-
ier ways, as well as helping them
discover new and more positive
ways to solve problems.
“We are fortunate to have a ther-
apist who is passionate about help-
ing children communicate through
a natural form of expression,” Doar
said. “Brian has been a great asset
to the Behavioral Health Depart-
ment and we are excited that he
has brought this service to the
program.”
Jones currently sees five clients
for play therapy and has room to
expand his caseload.
“The benefits of having this pro-
gram is that the children look for-
ward to therapy,” he said. “Some
ask their parents when they can
come back. When they get here they
go running into the therapy room.
It’s good when therapy is a positive
experience like that.”
Jones, who has worked with
adults most of his career, said
children are more likely to be
themselves and say whatever is on
their minds.
“They’re a lot less guarded, that
is the biggest difference I have no-
ticed,” he said.
Jones also likes to keep parents
involved in the process and meets
with them every three to four
weeks.
“I want to get them in to talk
about their perspective because
that is a big part of it as well,” he
said. “It’s also good to meet with
the parents for about five minutes
before a session and get updates on
how the kids are doing.”
Jones said frequent issues he sees
children for include depression,
conduct disorder, extreme temper
tantrums, refusing parental in-
struction, being bullied, anxiety
and trauma.
“Most of these kids have been
through some kind of trauma,” he
said. “The main goal is giving them
a platform to express themselves
and how they are feeling about
their world. We want to help them
develop healthy coping skills and
give them an opportunity to tell
their story through play. That can
start the healing journey. We all
have a story to tell.”
Jones grew up in Kansas and
is a member of the Prairie Band
Potawatomi Tribe. He earned an
associate degree from Haskell Indi-
an Nations University in Lawrence,
Kansas, and holds bachelor’s and
master’s degrees from the Univer-
sity of Kansas in social welfare.
He first became interested in
social work after taking a sociology
class where he learned about the
“glass ceiling” and how it affects the
poor and those from disadvantaged
backgrounds.
“I wanted to help empower them,
which is what led to me to this ca-
reer,” Jones said. “The best part of
my job is when people tell me they
don’t need to see me anymore. I love
hearing that.”
Before working in Grand Ronde,
Jones was employed as a licensed
clinical social worker for the Cow
Creek Tribe in Roseburg. In Kan-
sas, he served as a counselor at
Compass Behavioral Health and
Kanza Mental Health and Guid-
ance Center.
For more information about the
play therapy program, call Jones
at 503-879-2046 or e-mail brian.
jones@grandronde.org.