Sense of Agency in Action: The Story of a Young Girl in Costa Rica
- creative-therapies
- Dec 24, 2025
- 4 min read
by Sylvia Ketelhohn, MA, CAGS, PhD Candidate
Reclaiming a Community Space to Foster a Sense of Agency
It was midday in 2014 at Villa Esperanza, San José, Costa Rica. Our organization was participating in an initiative promoted by the Ministry of Health for International Recycling Day, aimed at reclaiming a neglected public space along the railway tracks. The area, abandoned for years, had become an open-air dumping site in the heart of the neighborhood.
The Municipality of San José had authorized the intervention, but no formal invitations were issued and local community associations were inactive. My assistant and I began on our own armed with gloves, brooms, and determination seeking not only to clean the space, but to create conditions where a sense of agency could emerge within the community.
Children, Play, and the Early Seeds of Agency
On the first day, I went door to door inviting neighbors to participate. The first to respond were the grandmothers of the neighborhood, who brought their grandchildren (girls and boys between six and twelve years old) to collaborate on a mosaic made from recycled materials, using the waste we had collected.
Over the following days, the grandmothers gradually became exhausted and stopped attending. The children remained. Their energy was boundless, their conflicts frequent. My role became one of mediation: sustaining motivation, managing disputes, and keeping the process alive.
Among the children, one girl stood out. She spoke openly of disturbing experiences (burned bodies found along the railway tracks) that she claimed to have witnessed with her grandmother. Her presence was intense, forceful, and emotionally charged.
When Control Failed and the Sense of Agency Was Absent
One day, I arrived with a Canadian friend volunteering in public space recovery projects. As usual, the children came alone, without caregivers. While we were working on the mosaic, the girl began arguing loudly with another boy: “I’m working here, and I don’t want him invading my space.”
My attempts to calm her with warnings had no effect. Looking back, I remember how my own frustration grew. Out of sheer exasperation, I even threatened not to give her the gifts I had in my car, yet nothing seemed to work. At that moment, her sense of agency was constrained, and my approach only increased resistance. Then my friend intervened quietly and unexpectedly.
A Relational Gesture That Restored the Sense of Agency
“Let me try,” she said calmly.” She took the girl by the hand and offered a simple proposal: “Why don’t you teach me how to speak Spanish? You point to things, tell me the word, and I’ll repeat it.” Almost instantly, the atmosphere shifted. The girl stopped shouting. Her body relaxed. She began pointing, naming, guiding, directing the activity with confidence and enthusiasm. Her sense of agency was restored, not through control, but through relationship and recognition. In that moment, she moved from opposition to leadership, from conflict to participation.
Why the Sense of Agency Matters in Children
Later, my friend explained that her teacher had emphasized a fundamental principle: children love to guide us. When adults step back from imposing tasks and instead allow children to lead, we create space for curiosity, spontaneity, and agency to emerge. This approach reduces tension, fosters a sense of belonging, and supports the development of a sense of agency, particularly in children who have experienced instability or trauma (Levine, 2015).
In Play and Art in Child Psychotherapy, Levine describes how play and artistic expression provide a symbolic space where children can “metabolize” lived traumatic, emotional, or everyday experiences, and integrate them into their inner world (Levine, 2015). Similarly, in Tending the Fire: Studies in Art, Therapy and Creativity, creativity is described as an inner fire that must be tended, with community artmaking acting as a catalyst for both personal and collective transformation (Levine, 2003).
Conclusion: The Sense of Agency as a Catalyst for Change
It was not a coercive technique that started transforming the girl’s behavior. It was a relational and artistic gesture: inviting her to teach Spanish words to a calm and caring adult. That simple act positively impacted her sense of agency, allowing her to take the lead in her own process. Through recognition, play, and artistic engagement, agency emerged naturally demonstrating how empowering children can transform not only individual behavior, but also relationships and shared community spaces.
Sylvia Ketelhohn, MA, CAGS, PhD Candidate, Founder of the Asociación Artística ASART in Costa Rica with over 20 years of experience in human and social development through artistic and cultural programs. She has collaborated with numerous international organizations contributing to projects across countries in Central and South America.
References
Levine, E.G. (2015). Play and Art in Child Psychotherapy: An Expressive Arts Therapy Approach. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Levine, E.G. (2003). Tending the Fire: Studies in Art, Therapy and Creativity (2ª ed.). EGS Press.
©2025 INA Play Therapy Press. Article n. 5 in the Series: Play is the Future
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