ABSTRACT
The skills of tracking and empathy are foundational to creating an environment in which the child feels accepted, valued, and free to make decisions and choices. A tracking response is one in which the therapist acknowledges the child’s behavior (or one or more characters in the child’s role-play) in an accepting tone of voice. Tracking responses serve two purposes. First, the child realizes that the therapist is attending to and valuing the child’s activity. Second, because the tracking response is delivered with an accepting voice tone, the child recognizes that the behavior in which he is engaging is acceptable in the playroom.
An empathic response is one in which the therapist acknowledges the underlying feeling, preference, intention/motivation, belief, or relational desire expressed in the actions of the child (or characters in the child’s role-play). Empathic responses serve to make the child more aware of the emotional meaning of their play. In addition, empathic responses leave children feeling understood and often facilitate their willingness to deepen their emotional expression in play, and to be more aware of and work through the therapeutic issues present in their play.
By reading and working through the chapter exercises, the reader will be able to:
Explain the purposes of tracking and empathic responding and how they are used in tandem in response to children’s play.
Demonstrate how to skillfully use track.
Identify five dimensions of empathic responses: feeling, like/dislike/preference, intention/motivation, belief, and desire for relationship.
Explain and demonstrate how to empathically respond across common special situations.
