Spanish For Mental Health Professionals
(310) 259-9923
  • Spanish Programs for Therapists
  • INDEX OF MODULES
  • CONTINUING EDUCATION HOURS
  • Meet The Instructors
  • Blog
  • Contact Us

Talking to Children in Spanish During Play Therapy

4/11/2016

0 Comments

 
by Alfonso M. López and Cynthia M. Braden, MFT

Many of our students are treating children and families in therapy, and have asked for help with vocabulary for play therapy. For this blog, we will be working with the Tú  form as that is the correct form to use with children. This is an important distinction to study, as we usually recommend and teach the Usted  form for working with adult clients. So, in this blog you will see verbs, compound tenses and reflexive constructions focusing on the Tú  form. 

Recognizing that play is a developmental process that needs exercising; using games, fantasy play, dolls and doll houses, paper crafts, "floortime" or “floor play”, are appropriate interventions developmentally to use with children of all ages.

Play therapists may find it challenging to find the right words and phrases to use during the play itself, such as introducing the play options and working with the physical aspects of the play therapy session.
​

Managing the Session Logistically


  • ​We don't have too many rules, but you have to be respectful. 
  • You can play with whatever you like.
  • You are going to come here for 30 minutes once a week. Or...
  • You will come here when I call you from class. 
  • We have five minutes left
  • ​​It's time to stop now
  • Let's clean up now
  • It's time to put things away now
  • Thank you for coming to see me
  • ​See you next week
  • ​No tenemos muchas reglas, pero tienes que ser respetuoso (respetuosa).
  • Puedes jugar con lo que desees.
  • Vas a venir aquí una vez a la semana por treinta minutos. O...
  • Vas a venir cuando te llame de la clase.
  • Tenemos cinco minutos más
  • ​Tenemos que parar ahora
  • Limpiemos ahora
  • Hay que guardar las cosas ahora
  • Gracias por venir a verme
  • Te veo en la próxima semana

Physical Aspects


  • Hi my name is _____.
  • This is a play therapy office.
  • You can play with whatever you like.​
  • Show me what you want to play with.
  • ​You can play here.
  • ​I want to see how you do it.
  • ​Do you need to use the bathroom?
  • ​​Hola mi nombre es...
  • Esta es una oficina para terapia de juego.
  • Puedes jugar con lo que quieras​.
  • Muéstrame con que quieres jugar.
  • Puedes jugar aquí.
  • Quiero ver como lo haces.
  • ¿Necesitas usar el baño?
  • toys
  • ​puzzles
  • animals
  • small animals
  • ​dinosaurs
  • ​dolls
  • doll house
  • truck
  • car
  • airplane
  • ​helicopter
  • police
  • firemen
  • boat
  • los juguetes
  • las rompecabezas
  • los animales
  • ​los animalitos
  • los dinosauros
  • ​las muñecas
  • la casa de muñecas
  • el camión
  • el carro
  • el avión
  • el helicóptero​
  • ​el policía
  • los bomberos​​​​
  • el barco
  • floor
  • carpet
  • chair
  • ​door
  • sofa
  • table
  • bathroom​
  • box
  • ​pencil
  • ​colored pencils
  • colored paper​
  • crayons
  • sharpener
  • mask
  • el piso, el suelo
  • la alfombra
  • la silla
  • ​la puerta
  • el sofá
  • la mesa
  • ​el baño​​
  • el cajón
  • el lápiz
  • ​los lápices de colores
  • ​el papel de colores
  • los crayones
  • ​el sacapuntas
  • la máscara
  • paint
  • scissors
  • ​tape
  • paper
  • glue
  • water
  • to build
  • to share
  • to play
  • ​to rest
  • la pintura
  • la tijera
  • la cinta adhesiva ​
  • ​el papel
  • el pegamento
  • ​el agua
  • armar
  • compartir
  • jugar
  • descansar
  • books
  • the person
  • the character
  • the picture
  • the drawing
  • the painting
  • game
  • game board
  • ​rules
  • pieces
  • turn
  • los libros
  • la persona
  • el carácter
  • la fotografía 
  • el dibujo
  • la pintura
  • el juego
  • el juego de mesa
  • las reglas
  • las piezas
  • turno
  • Do you like painting?
  • Do you like drawing?
  • Who is it?
  • What is he doing?
  • Do you like to make things out of paper?
  • ​Do you like puzzles?​
  • Would you like help?
  • How can I help you?
  • ¿Te gusta pintar?
  • ¿Te gusta dibujar?
  • ​​​¿Quién es?​
  • ¿Qué está haciendo?
  • ​¿Te gusta construir cosas de papel?
  • ​¿Te gustan los rompecabezas?
  • ¿Quieres ayuda?
  • ¿Cómo te ayudo?
  • Do you want to make any rules?
  • What are the rules?​
  • ¿Quieres poner algunas reglas?
  • ​¿Cuáles son las reglas?​​
  • Show me.
  • It's my turn.
  • It's your turn.
  • You win.
  • I win.
  • ​One more time.
  • ​Do you like this game?
  • ​I like it.
  • Muestráme
  • Es mi turno.
  • Es tu turno.
  • Ganaste.
  • Gané.
  • Una vez más.
  • ¿Te gusta este juego?
  • Me gusta. 
  • Do you like to read?
  • Do you like stories?
  • Who is it?
  • What is she doing?
  • What happened?
  • How does she feel?
  • How do you feel?
  • ¿Te gusta leer?
  • ¿Te gustan los cuentos?
  • ¿Quién es?
  • ¿Qué está haciendo ella?
  • ¿Qué pasó?
  • ¿Cómo se siente?
  • ¿Cómo te sientes?

Reflecting Feeling 


​On another level beyond the languages, therapists are simultaneously implementing therapeutic interventions based on the developmental abilities of the child and the theoretical orientation of the therapist. Our programs often focus on using Person-Centered interventions as they are congruent with the Cultural Concepts of Respeto, Personalismo y Desahogarse, are relatively simple to learn, and do not require perfect Spanish to be an effective Spanish-speaking therapist.
  • feelings
  • happy
  • sad
  • scared
  • ​tired
  • bored
  • ​fun
  • easy
  • difficult
  • los sentimientos
  • contento(a), feliz
  • triste
  • asustado(a)
  • cansado/cansada
  • aburrido/aburrida
  • ​divertido
  • fácil
  • ​difícil
  • monster
  • bad guy
  • ​good guy
  • hit
  • kick
  • bite 
  • kill
  • ​make friends
  • enemies
  • un monstruo
  • una persona mala
  • un muchacho bueno
  • pegar
  • patear
  • morder
  • matar
  • hacer amigos
  • ​enemigos
  • How does she feel?​
  • He is mad.
  • She is angry.
  • ​You are angry.
  • They are fighting.
  • He is hiding.
  • That is scary.
  • You like that.
  • You don't like that.
  • ¿Cómo se siente?
  • El está enojado.
  • Ella está enojada.
  • Tú estás enojado, enojada
  • Están peleando.
  • ​Está escondido.
  • Eso asusta, Eso da miedo, Eso espanta
  • ​Te gusta.
  • ​No te gusta.

Giving Reinforcement for Pro-Social Behavior


Let’s review some simple words and phrases commonly used for giving praise or reinforcement and talking to children about their behavior.
  • teacher
  • school
  • grades
  • green card
  • yellow card
  • ​red card
  • classroom
  • la maestra/el maestro
  • la escuela
  • las notas, las calificaciones
  • tarjeta verde
  • tarjeta amarilla
  • tarjeta roja
  • el aula, el salón de clases
  • behavior
  • problems
  • award
  • reward
  • punishmet
  • detention
  • recess
  • el comportamiento
  • los problemas
  • ​el premio
  • la recompensa
  • ​el castigo
  • la detención
  • ​el recreo
  • You did a good job building that.
  • You are doing a good job with sharing.​
  • Good job concentrating!
  • Hiciste un buen trabajo armando eso.
  • Estás haciendo un buen trabajo compartiendo.
  • Buen trabajo concentrándote.
  • I like the way you did that.
  • ​Very pretty.
  • Good job!
  • Me gusta mucho como hiciste eso.
  • Muy lindo.​
  • ¡Buen trabajo!
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Continuing Education Units
    Geography
    Grammar
    Play Therapy
    Therapeutic Interventions

    RSS Feed

Picture
Picture

    Join Our Mailing List and Receive a Free Video

Submit
Picture
Picture
DISCLAIMER: These modules reflect tried and true methods and best practices in many cases, but their effectiveness depends very much on a variety of circumstances outside the control of Spanish for Mental Health Professionals including without limitation the context of use, and the level of training of the user.  No particular result or success can be guaranteed, and Spanish for Mental Health Professionals disclaims all liability relating to any use of the modules by any user.  Materials are suitable for licensed mental health professionals; students, para professionals and pre-licensed therapists under the supervision of a licensed mental health professional only.