LaReece Osbourne
Staff Writer
At 6:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 26, the Programming Activities Council and Psi Chi hosted a screening of last year’s award winning Disney/Pixar film “Inside Out” in the McCasland Ballroom of the McMahon Centennial Complex.
The event filled the ballroom with children, parents and Disney/Pixar fans alike.
When the movie was over, children colored and engaged in other fun, friendly activities in the back, while the adults listened to guest speaker of the evening Doris Langston, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Registered Play Therapist and Clinical Hypnotherapist.
Langston spoke to parents about how children may display or express their emotions in different circumstances.
When the night was over parents and children walked out of the ballroom to their cars with balloons, popcorn, candy and colored artwork from the kids.
Jayne Badue, a six year old who attended the screening with her father, said she enjoyed the movie.
“The movie was really funny. I like Joy and Sadness a lot. I even have them on my backpack,” she said.
In the five minutes leading up to the start of the movie, kids were running all over the ballroom bouncing balloons and chasing one another.
Adults joined in too, but as soon as the lights began to dim and the movie started, the room hushed in hard silence and all eyes went to one of the three screens in the room.
The films stars an 11-year-old Minnesota girl named Riley and the five personifications of her basic emotions: Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust.
Riley is a happy child with a happy life until she has to move to San Francisco, leading her emotional counterparts to take matters into their own hands. The computer-animated film drew big laughs from both the children in the audience as well as the adults.
When the movie ended, children walked to the back of the ballroom where activities lined the wall.
Then, Langston took the mic and began speaking to the parents about children’s emotions.
Parents asked a variety of questions regarding playtimes, timeouts, disrespectful manners, appropriate punishments and rewards.
Langston has been in her field of work since 1982.
She said she has applied the ideas of hypnotherapy, play therapy and clinical social work to her understanding of diverse perspectives.
“When you become a therapist, it is really important to learn a lot of different methods, if you can,” she said. “This is what you do after you have your license.”
After getting her license, she learned Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and then got into hypnotherapy, noting the two studies are similar.
For example, if one can induce REM sleep in a patient, then one can also process trauma faster.
Langston lectured and answered questions for about a half hour before individually talking to parents with more questions or concerns.
She also specializes in individual therapy, family therapy, child therapy, relationship counseling and clinical hypnotherapy.
For more information on Langston’s therapies, call (580)-353-7760.