What Is Play Therapy?
... toys are the child's words!
Play Therapy is a mode of therapy that helps children and adolescents to explore their feelings, to express themselves and to make sense of their life experiences. Conventional talking therapies may be inappropriate for children and young people who struggle to find the words to describe complex feelings.
Initially developed in the turn of the 20th century, today play therapy refers to a large number of treatment methods, all applying the therapeutic benefits of play. Play therapy differs from regular play in that the therapist helps children to address and resolve their own problems. Play therapy builds on the natural way that children learn about themselves and their relationships in the world around them. How Will Play Therapy Benefit A Child? Play therapy is implemented as a treatment of choice in mental health, school, agency, developmental, hospital, residential, and recreational settings, with clients of all ages. Play therapy helps children:
What sort of child might benefit from Play Therapy? Play Therapy may be appropriate for children who are displaying behaviours that are seen to be a problem by those who care for them: they may be withdrawn, difficult to manage or not reaching their potential in some way. Play Therapy is an effective intervention for children or young people with problems such as:
Play Therapy can be adapted to suit different developmental levels and is appropriate for children of all ages, but is most often used for children aged between three and twelve years. Children from different cultures, genders and abilities can all be helped by Play Therapy. The Play Therapist Play Therapists generally work with individual children but many have experience of working with groups and with siblings and/or parents and carers (filial therapy, Theraplay®). Most Play Therapists are graduates who have already trained to work with children before they begin a post-graduate or masters level qualification in Play Therapy. Answers to Frequent Questions
|
Specializing in Play Therapy, Gestalt Therapy, Creative & Expressive Arts and Somatic Experiencing, our team's areas of focus include:
|