Developmental Therapeutic Plan Paper (Essay Sample)

Developmental Therapeutic Plan Paper
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Introduction
A temper tantrum is an unexpected outburst of anger, common among kids or individuals with precarious health issues. For instance, young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can exhibit such behavior due to the inability to express themselves (Chowdhary, 2017). The reason for the rage is the inability of the individual to control their feelings or express their desires. Ideally, there is a reason behind this outburst, commonly associated with unfulfilled desires. Thanks to research, tantrums are manageable, which can only be exemplified in addressing a developmental therapeutic plan for a child with tantrum issues. In this scenario, we have a child named Kyra. Kyra is a 2-year-old female admitted for pain crisis from sickle cell disease. It is the third admission in two months, and Kyra is having a hard time coping with her mother's absence from the hospital. Kyra's mother needs to work to cater for the medical bills. The need to work makes her lack time to be with Kyra at the hospital. Whenever any medical staff comes into Kyra's admission room, she yells and starts having a tantrum. In addressing the case, the paper will also look at the therapeutic activity based on the patient's condition, coping techniques, and care plan up to discharge.
Developmental Therapeutic Plan
Like many of her age mates, Kyra should be exhibiting normal tantrums. It is important to note that tantrums are normal in kids since they do not have mature coping skills for managing strong feelings. From a developmental perspective, tantrums occur between two years of age and three years in kids (Sisterhen and Wy, 2021). Common psychological triggers of tantrums in toddlers include hunger, need for parental attention, sickness, fatigue, and frustration. For instance, toddlers like to learn by exploring the settings around them. If an adult tries to intervene, the toddler may have a tantrum. Essentially, kids between 2 to 3 years of age have normal tantrums to get what they want or avoid what they do not want to do. Tantrum behavior in toddlers includes crying, throwing items around, flailing, yelling, biting, pushing, and breath-holding (Sisterhen and Wy, 2021). On average, tantrums occur once daily in two to three-year-olds. In terms of duration, a typical tantrum lasts for less than a minute. However, as a child matures and learns to communicate their emotions and develop positive behaviors to manage their feelings, the tantrums reduce.
Tantrums are hence normal in kids. The cause for worry comes when the child's frequency of occurrence and behavior is not part of the normal tantrums. Sisterhen and Wy (2021) refer to such types of tantrums as 'atypical,' indicating the manifestation of a psychological or behavioral disorder in the child. For instance, breath-holding, typical when a child has tantrums normally, occurs between 6 months and five years. Should such behavior extend beyond five years of age, the child may have a psychiatric or behavioral issue. It is also important to note that some behaviors that a child exhibits during tantrums may affect their health even if they are normal. Therefore, Kyra may be throwing a tantrum due to her mother's absence, but the yelling can affect her well-being.
Therapeutic Activity
Kyra's case is complex since the child is non-receptive to any strangers entering her admission room. Interestingly, there is an ideal therapy to handle her case: Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT). CCPT is based on Carl Rogers's Person-Centered theory by shifting focus from the therapist as an expert to the patient. In Kyra's case, CCPT is meant to empower and encourage her to attain positive change. CCPT applies basic skills to communicate their care and acknowledge the child in facilitating positive change. The skills include self-esteem building, returning responsibility, reflecting, encouragement, tracking, and therapeutic limit setting. The first step in applying CCPT is taking Kyra to a playroom full of toys from which she can select for playing. It is important to note that in providing an accepting and warm setting for a child, they feel safe and supported. The result is their effort to make a change towards a positive outcome.
As earlier indicated, in the playroom, Kyra may choose a doll to play with in one of the dollhouses within the playroom. In this therapy session, the therapist will have no control over Kyra’s actions. By eliminating control, it allows Kyra to take control over the situation. After that, Kyra’s actions are celebrated, validated, and honored regarding the choices she makes. The celebration and validation gives Kyra an exhilarating experience as she can now sense her control over her life. Furthermore, Kyra will feel she is the boss of the entire institution. It is important to note that tantrums indicate an unfulfilled desire, which in most cases is frustration due to the child not getting what they want. When Kyra perceives she is in control, her tantrums disappear or reduce. The CCPT skill of tracking will also be applicable as it will involve the therapist describing every action Kyra takes and the choices she makes in the playroom. For instance, should Kyra opt for a doll, there is a verbal expression from the therapist of the action as an accomplishment. Kyra, at this point, is establishing temporal ownership and finding out that she can use it in a meaningful way. As she does this, the therapist celebrates the action by using encouragement. The therapist may say, "You have that! Wow!" Such a statement offers Kyra a sense of accomplishment and value to respect her desires. It is important to note that desires are associated with feelings, and the honor of Kyra's desires by the therapist makes her honor her feelings too.
Play therapy as a therapeutic activity for Kyra honors her desires, which is vital for self-determination. Attaining self-determination is a step toward positive change. The goal of play therapy is not to praise Kyra since she will develop a dependency on other people. The goal is to make her realize that every choice she makes is important and meaningful. Ultimately, it boosts her confidence and self-esteem since she will not mind listening to her parent outside the playroom. Instead, she develops a great sense of self-determination to tolerate the inevitable periods when she does not get what she desires. Ideally, in her mother's absence, Kyra can make choices that make her feel good about herself. In the end, there is a reduction in tantrums.
Coping Techniques
Kyra's age is not advanced enough to learn about coping mechanisms for tantrums. Therefore, any coping mechanisms will be through the assistance of an adult carer. There are several strategies a carer can adopt to help Kyra develop coping mechanisms whenever there is a tantrum. Firstly, the carer can keep calm. More precisely, there is no good when an adult gets angry at a child throwing tantrums. The carer should remind themselves that this is just a single episode, and it will not kill anyone. The appropriate option is to take Kyra to a quiet place where she will calm down without any interference. At certain moments, kids need an opportunity to vent out their emotions, and offering them the chance helps the child calm down. Any attempts to raise a voice on the child will always make things worse.
Secondly, the carer can use diversion and distraction. A child's coping mechanism can be a distraction, which shifts their attention from the frustration of unfulfilled desire that makes them throw tantrums. The carer, in this case, can carry some toys like what happens in the play therapy. T