By Erica Jones

Her path to school counseling has spanned continents. After graduating from her undergraduate program at Virginia Tech, Meadows taught English in Japan for several years. That’s where she first felt the pull toward helping students navigate their social and emotional worlds.

“I love working with students, and more specifically, I love helping them find what makes learning important to them, who they are, what goals they have for their own futures, and how to achieve those things,” Meadows said.

That spark led her back to the U.S. to pursue a master’s degree in school counseling in the VCU School of Education. Meadows now lives in Hawaii where she works as a school counselor for elementary-age students.

Meadows has been incorporating play therapy into her work informally, finding ways to bring art, reading, movement and play to her students. But she wanted to be more intentional.

So she started searching.

A colleague pointed her to the website for the Association for Play Therapy.

“I was looking there for more opportunities, for trainings or workshops, virtual or in-person. Anything at all, just to see what was available,” Meadows said.

Initially, she only found courses that were more tailored to clinical settings. But then, she found a listing for something different: a workshop titled “School-Based Play Therapy.” Her interest was piqued immediately.

“I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh! That's perfect!,’” Meadows recalled. “So when I clicked on it and saw that it was not only in Richmond, but it was, you know, through VCU. I just was like, ‘Oh, my gosh! It's a total sign…I have to do this workshop.’”

Unlike play therapy training sessions that are rooted in one-on-one clinical work, VCU’s school-based play therapy workshops explore the healing attributes of play, examine the advantages and limitations within a school context, and give participants the tools to deliver play therapy services in that setting. For Meadows, that specificity was everything.

“[The school setting is] more short term; you're more solution focused,” Meadows said. “You're also working with a really large caseload of students with a variety of needs…I wanted to be as specific as I could with how I worked with children with play therapy, and so I couldn't believe there was something so perfect. That's what drew me to this particular training.”

Meadows said what excites her about the workshops the most is the opportunity to update her toolbox and give her “students another way to process, experience or express themselves in a way that is so inherent to children.”

And she encourages other practitioners thinking of taking one of VCU’s play therapy courses to do the same.

“If you use games at all to connect with kids, in relationship building with kids, or rapport building with kids, if you're finding yourself doing that naturally, I think this is a great next step,” Meadows said. “It can only enhance what you do when you have a more intentional lens and focus.”

More information about workshops offered in the Play Therapy training program, as well as upcoming opportunities, can be found at ocpe.vcu.edu/playtherapy.

This article was originally published on the website of VCU Continuing and Professional Education.