What is therapeutic work with dolls? Its characteristics and advantages

These are the advantages of the use of dolls applied to psychotherapy sessions.

I never tire of seeing the surprised faces when patients and colleagues enter my office and see it full of Playmobil. "You work with children, don't you?" is usually the question asked by both, but the face that is worth money is the one they get when I tell them that yes, I do work with children, but the space is not a playmobil space. I work with children, but the space for those dolls is reserved for adults..

I have always had the luck, ability or experience (let's call it what you will) to be able to look at my field of work from a very open-minded point of view, and this has allowed me to include very diverse methodologies and approaches in my sessions. The first time I saw the work with dolls I did not judge the methodology, but I was surprised that the professionals next to me had the response to discard this option because they believed that people's problems were too important to deal with them with dolls. It is also true that this idea lasted them the first half hour of the training.

What does therapeutic work with dolls consist of?

I would like to start by explaining some basic things before going into the topic of the use of dolls; this will help to understand why working with them works. The work with dolls is a process of projection, of pouring into the dolls not only the current conflict situation but also expectations, values, beliefs, family loyalties, etc. Therefore, the unconscious works, and a lot, in those sessions in which this methodology is used.

The fundamental idea is that our unconscious does not understand time.. If we work on something that happened in our childhood, our unconscious will live it as if it were happening now because for it there is no past or future, there is only the now.

Why is it useful in psychological therapy?

What the tool allows is to obtain a specific image, and you know what they say: "a picture is worth a thousand words". And this is what the potential of the dolls is based on; with them, the group or the patient can see their situation. Not only narrate it or tell it, but they are literally seeing the problem. they are literally seeing the problem projected on the dolls..

As you can guess, this image can give information that verbally could be incomplete or not be integrated in such a detailed way in the story to be worked on in the sessions. Small details such as the distance between the dolls or the similarities between them can give clues to the understanding of the personal or group story that is being worked on.

If we understand that the objective of our work as therapists is to accompany the patient in this process of bringing out what may be happening to him or her, the image that he or she designs will allow us to understand what is happening to him or her, the image that he/she designs would allow us to reformulate certain aspects of the story in a more orderly and pacifying way, since it allows us to move the subject in a more orderly way.This is because it allows us to move the subject within the scene he/she has created.

The advantages of this resource applied to therapy

Let us now look at the advantages offered by this tool for the therapist.

• The speed with which unconscious information is given. At a first glance, elements of great therapeutic interest can already be seen, which perhaps in verbal form would not be so clear or immediate in their appearance.
• As they are dolls, it is easier to break down certain resistances in the therapeutic work because one has the sensation of playing.
• Given the diversity of races, ages, professions and other characteristics that the dolls present, it is easier for the person to find the archetype with which he/she identifies, which will provide valuable information.
• It allows a multitude of experiences and fields of action: decision making, work problems, couple problems, internal problems, etc.
• It is a tool that allows dynamics in the sessions. The patient can see how he/she would feel with his/her changes within the image.
• It is a very useful tool in the facilitation of emotional expressions.
• It allows working at different levels of ecology from the macro to the micro level.
• Its application includes practically all ages of patients.

I hope this small article has contributed to you either as a patient or as a therapist. The dolls are one more tool among the millions of possibilities that we have as professionals dedicated to wellness and accompaniment.