Mental Health

Health & Wellness Meet Inge She Helps Children Through Play Therapy

Inge Luechinger, Psychiatric Nurse, APRN, PMH, MS, CS, RPT

up there due to their long-standing histories of severe mental health problems that ended up in drug addition and led to car accidents, gunshot wounds, domestic violence or other severe injuries. After working for many years there, I decided to return to school and acquired a degree as an Advanced Practice Nurse in Psychiatric Mental Health from Georgia State University. During that time, I was introduced to play therapy. I was able to complete two courses of play therapy as an elective. After Graduation, I had several jobs providing medication management at psychiatric hospitals. Again, I observed the devastation of trauma and longterm untreated mental health problems. The effects of adverse childhood experience studies (ACES) are well documented. I decided to begin working with children and prevention of the longterm effects of trauma. Here began my road to play therapy and building my private practice. I am currently an Advance Practice Nurse in Psychiatric Mental Health and a registered play therapist.

Q: What populations do you primarily work with in your current office?

A: I work primarily with children form the age of three and older. Trauma informed focused therapy/play therapy is my specialty. My approaches are based on the developmental ages of my clients. Many of the children I treat have lives with traumatic backgrounds or have difficulties adjusting to school or social situations. Some children experience family stressors and have adjustment problems to new situations. Play therapy lets children express their trauma/ feelings/problem experiences via storytelling play and/or sand play narratives. Play therapy is the children’s way of talk therapy. My approaches follow the psychiatrists Bruce Perry, MD and Daniel Siegel, MD. These psychiatrists integrate brain psychoeducation and brain development into the therapeutic process. Integration of trauma, self-regulation, and verbalizing of feelings are the main goals for play therapy.

Q: Since you have experience in both medication management and psychotherapy, what would you say to individuals about the utility of both? A: Medication can help to assist clients in utilizing self-regulation and maintain certain levels of neurotransmitters. In children, I believe one has to be very careful with medication management. Children’s developing brains are different than fully developed brains of adults. Relying on medication only in children may give the message that “just take a pill, and this will make you feel better.” In my professional opinion, taking psychotropic medication should be accompanied with learning new coping skills, relaxation techniques, and exploration of new thought processes. These skills can be regularly practiced with children by parents, teachers, or therapists.

Q: What brought you to Rabun County? A: The plan for me and my husband was to retire up in Rabun County. We love to hike and be outdoors. Multiple friends and colleagues recommended this part of Georgia. We found a great home up on the mountains and decided to move from Atlanta to Rabun.

Q: Tell me about your background/training/specialty areas of treatment. A: I graduated in Switzerland with a general and psychiatric nursing degree. I immigrated to the United States and began working at Peachford Addiction Center after passing the Nursing Board Exam in 1986. Changing professional directions, I began working at Grady Hospital in the ICU Trauma Unit in 1990. It was often a devastating place to work, 12-16 hour shifts. Many clients ended

Q: What are your ambitions for the future? A: My hope is to work and serve the community as long as my physical and cognitive functions are in good health. I enjoy working for the Red Cross as a disaster mental health volunteer and hope to expand that role in the future.

Q: What do you enjoy when you aren’t working? A: I love to hike and enjoy my daily yoga practices. I spend hours reading and listening to music. Reading has been my passion all my life, and I believe it has helped expand many mental/creative and professional horizons throughout my life.

Q: Anything else I haven’t asked you about that you would like to share?

A: I would like to explain play therapy and the benefits to children. Children learn via play many skills including organizational skills, setting priorities, spatial integration, and creative/analytical skills. In play, children can resolve or “play out” feelings and situations that are currently creating stress or express via play past traumatic events. Play therapy assists children to explore feelings and traumatic events and integrate them into their developmental stages. Play is often talked about as if it were relief from serious learning…but for children, play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.