John Young Plays for Work
John Young, therapist at the Behavioral Health Centers of Southern Iowa (BHCSI), recently attended the Iowa Play Therapy Conference in Iowa City. Play therapy is a medium that he and a child can work – and play – together to deal with complex issues. In the picture at left, John Young demonstrates to Jodi Hill, Clinical Director of the Community Health Centers of Southern Iowa, aspects of play therapy. John added his puppet, Grizz, to his vast array of “toys’ after winning him at the Iowa Play Therapy Conference.
In addition to play therapy, Young a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, offers counseling and group coordination specializing in child therapy. He worked in the FOCUS Unit of Decatur County Hospital since 1999 serving in counseling and supervisory capacities during his tenure with the hospital. Young came to the Behavioral Health Centers of Southern Iowa when the hospital closed the FOCUS Unit.
He served in the Air Force for eight years prior to attaining first his Bachelors Degree in Psychology and then his Masters Degree in Counseling from Northwest Missouri State University. In addition, he has many hours of specialized training in children and family counseling.
“Play helps the therapist and child deal with complex issues such as sexual abuse or divorce when the child may not have the words to talk about it,” Young explains. Jean Piaget – a forerunner in the field of child psychology – has said that play bridges the gap between concrete experience and the child’s abstract thought.
“Because children do not developmentally have the words, experience, or thinking ability to express themselves,” John continued, “I use puppets, games, crayons and paper, doll houses, cars, blocks, sand boxes – anything really – that a child can relate to and tell me complex things without words.”
Play therapy conveys unconditional accepting, non-judgmental and genuine caring. It creates a safe haven for children to express themselves while still setting limits and boundaries. This type of child therapy also helps children to positively model their behaviors and emotions.
Some of the themes that surface in play therapy include power and control, anger and sadness, trust in relationships, abandonment, nurturing, rejection, security, death, loneliness, violation, protection, and self-esteem. “Play therapy is a powerful tool that therapists use to bring out what is really troubling a child,” Young points out.
In addition to Young’s activities, the Behavioral Health Centers of Southern Iowa services include one-on-one, couples, and group therapy, psychiatric evaluation, biofeedback, neuro-feedback, psychosocial evaluation, disability evaluation, psychiatric follow-up, medication monitoring, and involuntary commitments.
CHCSI is a community medical and behavioral health practice that is funded in part by a Federal grant and was launched April 1, 2005. Now with two locations, one in Leon and the other in Lamoni, the purpose of the Community Health Centers of Southern Iowa is to deliver high-quality primary and preventive medical and behavioral care to everyone in the Southern Iowa region regardless of ability to pay.
“We can really make a difference in a child’s life,” Young emphasized. “I would be happy to speak to parent, school, and church groups about child therapy and what the Behavioral Health Centers of Southern Iowa can do for the youth of our community.” Appointments with Young or any of the therapists at BHCSI can be made by calling the Community Health Centers of Southern Iowa at 641.784.7911 in Lamoni or in Leon at 641.442.2383.