Play Therapy is a developmental intervention designed to help children to explore their feelings, to express themselves, and to make sense of their life experiences so they may grow up as happy and well-adjusted as possible. It involves the use of play as the child explores at their own pace and with their own agenda issues, past and current, conscious and unconscious, affecting the child’s life in the present. Often children are unable to express themselves with words. Through play, children’s natural medium of expression, they are able to express themselves in a way they are most comfortable.
We can understand our children better if we understand their play. By watching children play
we can learn about their…
When we understand our children’s play we can build an even stronger relationship with them. Play is a child’s natural form of communication. Emotions are often difficult for children to understand and even more difficult for them to express. Play provides a non-threatening way for children to express themselves.
Children learn…
Play Therapy creates a safe environment where children can…
Children can give expression to their experiences and emotions as they recreate through play the experiences that are part of their anger, fears, sadness, or frustrations that are influencing their behavior. Play Therapy provides toys and activities and the environment to help children express themselves, work on their problems, try different solutions, and learn effective coping skills.
There are many different types of Play Therapy. The common aspect of the therapists is that they systematically use play to communicate with the child. Specific activities may vary. Some therapists utilize a playroom with a wide range of carefully selected toys to help facilitate creative and emotional expression from children. The types of toys used can be played with in many ways and therefore allow for decision-making in children. There may be times the play therapist will choose to use a specific activity with a child because it will help the child understand things better or it will teach the child a skill they need to learn. Through the child’s expression the child’s play evolves until the child gains a sense of understanding and comfort over this situation. Children may be given the opportunity to express themselves through a variety of styles such as art play, sand play, dramatic play and fantasy play.
The length of time a child participates in play therapy varies from child to child depending on the severity of the trauma, the developmental stage of the child, and the age of the child at the onset of the trauma. Therapy is usually shorter the more recent the events. The further back in the child’s development at the time of the event, the longer the length of therapy.
Play is a child’s natural way to rehearse life’s interactions. Play basically has three purposes…
When play is facilitated by a trained play therapist, the play becomes focused on emotional purposes. Play therapy uses the child’s natural expression of play to act out life situations, in the presence of a trained therapist. The therapist helps the child feel accepted and understood and gain a sense of control or understanding of difficult situations. This leads to re-establishment of balance in the child’s sense of well-being.
In the process of growing up children often experience difficulty coping with life situations as…
Some children need more help than others to get through these difficult times. Play Therapy is an effective treatment for helping children work through these difficult times and helping parents understand what their children are going through. Through the Play Therapy process children recreate their frustrations and then change the experience of the situation in their play. As a result, the children begin to enjoy more of their play experiences, therefore, more of life’s interactions. This leads to children’s…
Parents play an important role in the Play Therapy process. They can do much to enhance the work their child does in Play Therapy sessions. The therapist will meet with the parents…
The play therapist will share general themes, helpful responses, and progress in therapy with the parent.
You tell your child that they will be spending time in a “special playroom” where there is toys to play with. It is important that the child feel safe and secure when recreating emotionally stressful experiences in the playroom with the play therapist.
It is important to understand that even though therapy was through play, children work very hard in therapy. Therefore, it is appropriate to say things like…
Please avoid asking your child questions about the session. Some children will be excited about the experience and will want to share, others maybe very quiet, and others may go about their lives as nothing happened. It is important that we accept the child and their reactions. We do not want to criticize the child or their work while at the same time we do not want to influence them through praise. It is most important that you accept your child as they are.