Originally published in the The Theraplay® Institute Newsletter of Summer, 2000

Working with Tribal Aboriginal People in Australia

Juanita Miller, M.A.

an independent contractor, living in St. James, West Australia

I was employed by the community to help the young mothers (no fathers were in evidence) and their young children develop personal and social skills as well as parenting skills. These sessions employed a mix of methods, but were mostly role-playing and Theraplay. For example, one morning the young women asked for assertiveness training to help them deal with the police, school, and hospital systems (with which they are in frequent conflict) and also with their menfolk. Their children (about 8 of them, mostly 2-4 year olds) were in the room with them. The children would not leave because their grandmother was there as well. Each tended to cling to his or her mother and cry if she got out of her chair, looking up at me with big terrified brown eyes. They were passive however, so they would just stand and cry helplessly rather than following her if she left the room.

On my second day there, a handsome Aboriginal male visitor happened to come into the building on business and walked into our group by mistake. In Aboriginal culture, men do not come in when there is "women's business," but I asked for the women's permission to include him in our role-play. He played the part of a "difficult" male, and played it with flair, much to the delight of the young women, who hooted with laughter at his antics. However, it was far too realistic for the children, who started to cry, and the young mothers started to get angry and impatient with them. So I was presented with a perfect opportunity to do Group Theraplay, first with the children and then their mothers using a range of fun activities. Great favorites were lotioning of feet, footprints, hiding M&Ms, bubble blowing and blowing cotton balls under each other's armpits. Over time we developed all sorts of variants. From then on every day they requested "them games you play," and my only difficulty was to make sure that these very deprived young women didn't take over the activities from their children. Nurturing activities were very popular, but they wanted the grandmother and me to nurture them, and resisted nurturing their children. I also had to make sure that I was evenhanded with the time that I gave each one, or they would get cross and sulk. It was hard for them to get used to playing with their children, and especially hard for them to get the hang of Structuring activities. They refused to play "(Grand)mother May I?" "Alphabet", or "Red Light-Green Light." This was partly because the adult must structure the activity and the children must follow the rules, but also because they are "white" games.

When we added imaginary and culturally acceptable details, the games were very popular. They loved building a tower of pillows and having to wait for the all clear sign before they could jump and not be swallowed by an imaginary crocodile. We eventually developed a whole lot of stories about people going walkabout and having to consult the spirits of Dreamtime before they could take the next step. They loved this and became very creative. I had to get the grandmother to give the orders of course or it would never have worked, so I needed to know when to defer to her. Fortunately I have had a lot of contact with Aboriginal people as I have two Aboriginal foster brothers and have a special interest in Aboriginal culture, so I knew the rules.

It is impossible for me to tell everything that happened-there was far too much! But I noticed that the children over time became much less clingy, much more confident, and the young mothers were happier, more relaxed, and more nurturing. I even noticed them starting to set some limits for their children. It is only a start, but the results were inspiring. The community was extremely appreciative and they have asked me to come back. It was a great experience.