Play Therapy: Therapy Made for Children, With Children’s Minds in Mind
By An and Brooke
Play therapy is a therapeutic technique that uses children’s unique language of play to engage them in a multisensory, interactive process.
By engaging with children in a language they are fluent in and familiar with, they can feel comfortable, safe, and able enough to express themselves. Taking this step into their world shows a respect for and sensitivity to children, which acknowledges the fact that they are at a different mentality and stage in development than the clinicians they see.
What Is Play Therapy?
Play therapy is an evidence-based method of counselling younger children that optimises their abilities to express, explore and resolve troubling thoughts, feelings, experiences, interests, worries and wishes in natural ways. It involves spontaneous play and may include equipment like toys, games, and pens and paper.
Why Is Play Important?
A child’s pretend play is the building blocks of their behaviour in the real world. It assists cognitive, social, and emotional development, and promotes healthy autonomy.
Engagement in pretend play has been linked with:
- Flexible thinking
- Impulse control
- Motor skills
- Problem-solving
- Self-regulation
Why Should I Consider Play Therapy for my Child?
For children who are in the early stages of cognitive development, talk therapy is not overly accessible.
Integrating play into therapy sessions fosters growth by acknowledging children’s needs and beliefs. This allows them to become more authentic and integrated individuals who are better at responding to triggers and challenges.
Play therapy highlights a child’s innate creativity to engage and work with them in a therapy setting to maximise exploration of self (emotions, concerns, and wellbeing) through a trusted relationship with the clinician and integrated use of creative, imaginative play.
What Sets Play Therapy Apart?
Play therapy goes beyond traditional talk therapy.
Safe, supportive environment
It provides a safe and supportive environment for the child to feel most comfortable in.
Freedom of expression
Children are free to express themselves in a way that feels natural, in a space that becomes safe and familiar. They have an outlet where they are encouraged and able to foster creativity.
Development of life skills
Children can develop skills that are used throughout the lifespan in maintaining a healthy and happy lifestyle.
Overcoming challenges and developing emotional responses
Children can learn to overcome challenges and build problem-solving skills. Alongside this they can regulate, communicate and practise emotional responses.
Who Can Benefit from Play Therapy?
Play therapy is suited for young children. Typically, it is targeted at kids between 3 and 11 years of age.
Play therapy can have positive effects for children who are experiencing:
- Behavioural disorders: behavioural patterns that interfere with an individual’s ability to carry out their regular daily lives.
- Psychosocial issues: challenges involving a child’s psychological development and mental health, and involving social interaction with family, peers, and the wider world.
- Physical and learning disabilities: disabilities that affect a child’s movement and ability to process and recall information.
- Speech and language problems: difficulties in a child’s ability to produce, use and understand words.
Children dealing with the following may also benefit from play therapy:
- Anxiety
- Abuse
- Domestic violence
- Depression
- Grief and loss
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Celebrating Individual Differences
Despite substantial established and ongoing evidence about the efficacy of play therapy, and play therapy’s ability to be applied broadly and uniquely for each client, this approach may not be the best fit for all young children. No child is the same as another, so no one therapeutic approach will work for all kids.
Celebrate the differences in young children, and use these differences to find solutions suited to each individual instead of trying to fit everyone into the same box!
An Yang (Provisional Psychologist at Therapy House) has a Graduate Certificate in Play Therapy from the Queensland Institute of Play Therapy (2023).
Therapy House prides itself on being a place for children, and anyone who has once been a child.
We are here to support people of all ages, around Brisbane or via Telehealth. Get in touch today.
