Jess Gainfort
Play Therapist at POP Therapy
About Me
I’m Jess and I am a qualified Play Therapist with POP working part-time within various schools in Aylesbury. A ‘fun fact’ that my colleagues might not know about me is that as a teenager I was a member of a marching band, playing the side drum (yes I had a pair of drumsticks of my own!!). We toured America, visiting so many amazing places such as Boston, Philadelphia, New York and the highlight of the trip was performing on the steps of the White House in Washington. Many memories that remain with me years on.
From Teaching to Play Therapy
I found the world of Play Therapy after nearly twenty years working as a Primary School teacher. When I began teaching at the young age of 21 it was a very different experience to the world as a class teacher in the present day. I felt that I couldn’t make a difference as much as I had previously done with all of the pressures being put upon life in the primary classroom – I had lost that ‘fire in my belly’!
After much research, I found the APAC Introductory Session which gave the participants an overview and taster of the practice of Play Therapy. Within ten minutes of this course, I knew that this was what I wanted to do for the remainder of my working years. And so here I am, fully involved with young children as a Play Therapist.
A Session I’ll Never Forget
I think one of the key moments that stands out in my mind when looking at my sessions in the playroom, is with a young girl who had been referred to me due to concerns with her mental health linked to a medical condition of Cerebral Palsy. Unable to walk unaided and confined to a wheelchair for most of her day. Her face when she played the first session was a moment that I will never forget. Her words telling me how much she loved Play Therapy and how she wanted the time just to be in the room. I feel that this showed me that there are no barriers at all with this form of therapeutic intervention.
My Toolkit & Favourite Symbols
Within the playroom my favourite part of the toolkit is the sand tray and symbols. When a child accesses this within their session there seems to be a magical energy. Calm takes over the room and I can sense the healing that could potentially be occurring.
I also use the sand tray regularly as part of my own processing, either before a client which I feel may be particularly challenging, or after a client that may have brought up some emotion in myself. My favourite miniatures in my kit are a set of two hedgehogs, different in size. I think they symbolise the spikey outer shell that some children enter the play therapy process with and feel a need to curl up into a ball. Slowly with time the child (and hedgehog) feels able to stretch out and tackle everyday life.
Outside the Playroom
Outside of the playroom, I am a mum to two teenagers – a boy and a girl – so they keep me busy with my skills as a ‘taxi driver’!!!
I am known to binge watch a good box set on Netflix with a tub of ice-cream, snuggled up on the sofa and my secret guilty pleasure is watching Eastenders!!! (I know!!) I like being able to just truly relax and not have to process or think about anything else.
Pottering around in the garden I also love, weeding and pruning, being able to connect with nature and the soil, whilst soaking up the sun rays.
Joy in Play
When thinking about what I enjoy in the world of play, now as an adult, I think it is building sandcastles on the beach. Never too young to make a castle, create a moat, add some tunnels, collect a bucket of seawater, pop on a few shells and a flag made from nature. Then simply watch the tide encompass what has been built. Although teenagers now, we still love doing this together along with all their cousins. It brings me pure joy.
Why POP Matters to Me
Being part of the POP team, I am excited to meet likeminded professionals who understand how beneficial Play Therapy can be to young children. I love the conversations with my colleagues and how our work as a team is really having an impact on such a wide range of children who all just need a little helping hand to start to become their true self.
Final Thought
My one piece of advice to other professionals and parents would be to ‘just be’ with your child. Silence can be so rewarding and beneficial. Watch and observe – body language, eyes, what is being played out. That it is ok to just sit in silence with a child and be present in the moment.