Play Therapy

Research has found Play Therapy to be beneficial for every child and can be used as a preventative measure. It helps children make sense of their world, reaching their full potential while developing resilience and emotional intelligence. It is also a psychotherapeutic intervention when offered by appropriately qualified practitioners. Play therapy practitioners who are not psychotherapists are not intended to provide treatment for children with complex issues including those linked to trauma, attachment disruptions, or mental health concerns. In such cases the referral should be made to a psychotherapist with a specialisation in play therapy who can provide a developmentally appropriate intervention to address difficulties and distress.

Possible referral issues include:

• Emotional or behavioural issues
• Communication difficulties
• Delayed or uneven development
• Learning difficulties
• Relationship difficulties
• Family Disruptions such as illness or divorce
• Trauma
• Bereavement or loss
• Abuse or neglect
• Chronic illness/hospitalisation
• Bonding and attachment issues
• Fostering, adoption and identity issues.
• ADD, ADHD, Autism
• Elective Mutism
• Anxiety
• Bullying
• Low Self-Esteem
• Poor play skills

Play is vital for every child’s social, emotional, cognitive, physical, creative and language development. Play Therapy uses a variety of approaches, interventions, media and activities appropriate to the individual child’s needs.

Play is the natural language of children that enables complex thoughts and feelings, ideas and perceptions to be brought into focus. Children can work through traumatic or difficult life’s experiences. Through play they can make sense of their past and cope better with their future. Children may also learn to manage relationships and conflicts in more appropriate ways. It provides the child with emotional support while the child learns to understand more about their own thoughts and feelings.

Play promotes healthy brain development. Recent research (Sunderland 2006) ‘The activation of the brain’s PLAY system is key to living life well. When this system is optimally activated in childhood, it is likely to set vital foundations for the ability in later life to be able to bring fun and a sense of play into relationships.’ (p.108).

See Paris Goodyear-Brown’s Ted Talk on Play Therapy to see how play therapy as practiced by psychotherapists with a specialisation in play therapy can help children who have been traumatised.

The number of play therapy sessions varies for each child and this will be discussed at reviews. Allow at least 6-8 sessions to allow your child to build a rapport with the therapist and adapt to the play room.  The therapist will usually meet with parents/carers at this point to discuss progress.

It is important to remember that children work through their difficulties at their own pace and the therapist supports and respects how each child responds to the process. Often, it may take many weeks to see noticeable changes, and behaviours may become more prominent as the child learns new ways of thinking, understanding and behaving.

Each play therapy session varies in length but usually last about 30 to 50 minutes. Sessions are usually held weekly. Research suggests that it takes an average of 20 play therapy sessions to resolve the problems of the typical child referred for treatment. Of course, some children may improve much faster while more serious or ongoing problems may take longer to resolve (Carmichael, 2006; Landreth, 2002).