Humanities Homework Help

The seminal book Dibs: In Search of Self is a classic case study of how play therapy can help a child who is experiencing trauma. As a case study, it only looks at one child, Dibs. Thus, some elements of this case occur in a specific context, and some elements may not be applicable to your future environment. Reflect on the information presented in the book and articles this week. Consider how the interventions for Dibs might be altered or adapted if Dibs was from a different cultural group. For this Discussion, you might consider a specific population that you are interested in working with as a future counselor, such as interracial families, rural families from a specific region, families with African American children, or other groups that interest you.

To prepare for the Journal Assignment:

• Review this week’s Learning Resources.
• Imagine you are working with a child the same age as Dibs today; however, this child is from a different cultural group (gender, race, religion, nationality, social class, etc.).
• Consider how this would impact your work with this child.

Write a 4- to 6-paragraph Journal response that includes the following components:

• Describe the new cultural context of the child with which you would work.
• Describe cultural considerations you think are important to be aware of for this child.
• Explain how you would contextualize or adapt play therapy interventions for this cultural group, and justify your reasoning.
• Describe any previous experiences you have had with this cultural group and what you think would be helpful for you to gain skills in working with clients of this cultural group. 
• Dibs Story:   The book chronicles a series of play therapy sessions over a period of one year with an emotionally crippled boy (Dibs) who comes from a wealthy and highly educated family. Despite signs that he is gifted, his mother, father, and most of his teachers perceive him as having an emotional or cognitive disorder. Dibs presents abnormal social behavior by continuously isolating himself, rarely speaking, and physically lashing out at those around him. When Axline first meets Dibs’s parents, they describe her as their son’s last hope. The book details the interactions between Dibs and Axline and ion transcripts for dialogue.In their weekly sessions together, Axline incorporates the principles of non-directive play therapy. Her approach to children was based on the humanistic concepts of Carl Rogers and person-centered therapy. Dibs is able to do and say whatever he wants during his hour in play therapy, while Axline provides patience and support. In this nurturing environment, Dibs slowly opens up and begins exploring his feelings. Axline’s responses to Dibs are primarily reflections, demonstrating to Dibs that she is listening to him without judging him. By the end of the book, which spans the course of one full year, Dibs makes notable strides in his ability to express himself, identify and cope with his feelings, and interact socially with his peers and family. Dibs was subsequently tested at the end of his therapy and was found to score in the extremely gifted range, with an IQ of 168 on the Stanford-Binet Intelligence