“Play Therapy”: Where Children Can Heal

 What is Play Therapy and why is it an effective intervention to help support children? We will take a closer look into the bigger umbrella of play therapy and why it is such a powerful and effective model when working with children.

Here at Lotus & Lane Counseling, LLC, we ascribe to helping children process their emotions through their natural language and form of communication- play. We believe that play is the “language” of children and an evidence-based medium through which they can communicate and process their thoughts and emotions.

1.     What Is Play Therapy? The Association of Play Therapy defines play therapy as “the systematic use of a theoretical model to establish an interpersonal process wherein trained play therapists use the therapeutic powers of play to help clients prevent or resolve psychosocial difficulties and achieve optimal growth and development”. In other words, play therapy is a purposeful and intentional model of mental health intervention that allows the train licensed therapist to work with the child through the child’s language – play. The toys are the “words” and play is the “language”.

2.     What age group is play therapy typically used with? Play therapy is generally implemented for children ages 3-12.

3.     What kinds of concerns do play therapists work with? Play therapy has been proven to be effective when working with a myriad of behavioral, social, emotional and learning concerns. This includes, but is not limited to: concerns related to

·      life stress

·      trauma

·      crisis

·      death

·      divorce

·      relocation

·      hospitalization

·      anger management

Furthermore, play therapy has been utilized as a primary intervention for certain disorders including, but not limited to:

·      ADHD

·      depression

·      autism

·      learning disabilities

·      conduct disorders

·      anxiety

4.     Why don’t children’s therapists simply use “talk therapy”? Talk therapy is generally not considered to be developmentally appropriate for young children. Children often do not have access to the words and language to describe their innermost complex feelings and thoughts. By meeting the child where they are at, and allowing them the space to process the way they know how- by play, we are allowing them the opportunity to heal. While there is no “one size fits all”, play therapy provides a safe medium for children to share their words (via toys) through play (the language).

5.     How does Play Therapy differ from just “playing”?: In play therapy, the trained play therapist is purposefully and strategically connecting with the client and providing interventions to create an environment in which the child feels safe and able to express themselves. Through this safe environment and therapeutic relationship, children are able to process through and express their innermost thoughts and emotions and work through them.

6.     Is there any research or evidence to prove that play therapy is effective? Play therapy is an evidence-based mental health intervention when working with children. Please find more information about the research surrounding play therapy here. 

If you have questions about Play Therapy, or think that Play Therapy would be an effective intervention for your child, please contact one us.

References

The Association for Play Therapy: https://www.a4pt.org/