“In play therapy, toys are like the child’s words and play is the child’s language.”
— Dr. Garry Landreth
Children can experience adverse life events that impact their physical and emotional wellbeing, resulting in confusing or overwhelming emotions such as anger, sadness, anxiety, or guilt. Being able to verbalise and understand these responses can be difficult for children due to their age and developmental stage.
Children naturally express themselves through play, and by engaging in play activities, they can communicate their thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Play is a child’s natural way of enabling them to start to integrate their experience and their perception of the challenging life event they have experienced.
Child Centred Play Therapy is a non-directive evidence-based approach to counselling children, aged 2-12 years old, where the therapist creates a safe therapeutic environment to enable the child to express their perceived view of the world and work through challenging emotions and experiences.
Research supports the effectiveness of Play Therapy with children experiencing a wide variety of social, emotional, and behavioural difficulties including those listed below:
- Issues around self-esteem and anxiety
- Excessive anger, fear, worry, shyness, and sadness
- Adjusting to family changes
- School difficulties
- Social adjustment issues
- Separation anxiety
- Neurodiversity affirming
- Trauma
- Neglect and Abuse
- Grief and Loss
- Medical Trauma and chronic illness
Some of the benefits of Play Therapy can be:
- Emotional expression: Children may find it challenging to express their feelings verbally. Play provides a medium for them to communicate and work through their emotions.
- Problem-solving: Through play, children can act out scenarios and resolve conflicts, helping them develop problem-solving skills and coping mechanisms.
- Building relationships: Play therapy strengthens the therapeutic relationship between the child and the therapist, fostering trust and a sense of security. This in turn provides the child with a template to develop positive relationships with others in their world.
- Trauma resolution: Children who have experienced trauma may re-enact distressing events in their play, allowing the therapist to guide them towards understanding and coping with these experiences.
- Skill development: Play therapy can enhance social skills, communication, and emotional regulation, promoting healthy development and a sense of mastery.
How does nurtured therapy work?
At nurtured therapy we believe parents and caregivers are an integral part of the child’s world. We therefore strongly encourage parents to actively participate in the therapy process. Collaboration will involve all parties being responsive to feedback and being open to learning and developing new parenting skills. Developing a relationship of trust and respect between parents and therapist will increase positive therapeutic outcomes for the child.
The Play Therapy process
- 15 minute initial phone consultation to assess need and suitability
- 60 minute initial parent consult
- Creation of treatment plan tailored to the child’s individual needs
- 45 minute weekly sessions based on assessment
- 60 minute 3-4 weekly follow-up parent consult to review treatment plan and discuss termination timeframe
For further research regarding the benefits of Play Therapy please visit the Evidence Based Child Therapy Website.