Play Therapy and Beyond

Although it is Sunday, time is getting short for all that is left to do and today was the best day for the play therapists to get together for training. The play therapy taught in Ethiopia is what is called non-directive therapy, which means the child makes all the decisions on what toys to play with while the therapist observes.

The training that I received in the U.S. from Paul White was in directive play therapy, a new way of conceptualizing therapy for the therapists. I had brought therapy supplies and videos, and once again, it was compelling to experience how strong the desire to learn is among the Ethiopians whom I have met.

We began with the concept of having a folder for every child and then the idea of recording the theme of each session in a drawing. I also introduced Paul's containment techniques of putting all of a child's problems on slips of paper and leaving them in the therapy room in a brightly colored plastic Easter egg. (Fortunately, they were very easy to find in the U.S. before my trip, and very light to pack.)


Then we moved on to Clay Therapy with the Play-Doh I had brought. This is a particularly good therapy for Ethiopia given the fact that the therapists will be able to make the clay themselves with flour, salt and a few more ingredients. I want to thank Paul for the book and the training cd's that he generously donated to HFC.

After the training and a light lunch, Woiny and I went to the National Museum where we saw the earliest-found humanoid skeleton, "Lucy" (or actually her replica, as she is currently touring the U.S.) The display of skulls and skeletal remains found in Africa from so many early forms of human beings was amazing, and the reality of how all of these species died out, except us, homo sapien, greatly impacted me.

This evening we met up with a friend from Bloomsburg who is teaching in Addis and saw the award-winning film "Tesa." It was difficult to watch the horror that encased Ethiopia for 14 years at the end of the 20th century, but it was the world that Woiny grew up in. At age 20, Woiny was tortured and put into solitary confinement for 3 years for refusing to marry one of the ruling leaders. I am now even more in awe of how she has dedicated her life to reducing the suffering of so many Ethiopians!