Play Therapy helps children Play Therapy helps children to explore their feelings, express themselves and to make more sense of their life experiences. Play is a child's natural medium to learn, communicate and explore his/her world. Conventional talking therapies may not be appropriate for children and young people who struggle to put their feelings into words.
For this reason I provide the children with a safe environment containing toys, puppets, musical instruments, art materials, sandplay and therapeutic games.
Who can benefit from Play Therapy? Play Therapy can be used to help to alleviate many children's emotional and behavioural problems, including children who are:
Not realising their full potential - academically or socially At risk of being excluded from school Having nightmares or disturbed sleep Suffering as a result of trauma Have suffered emotional, physical or sexual abuse Suffering because of separated/divorced parents Suffering from anxiety, stress, or phobias Suffering from a loss or bereavement Withdrawn or continually unhappy Disabled or suffering from a long term illness Finding it difficult to make friends Frequently quarrelling with peers and siblings Bullying other children or who are being bullied themselves Having frequent outbursts of anger Displaying inappropriate behaviour Children choose from a number of activities to enable them to express themselves including:
Art
Many children choose art as a way of expressing themselves. Images are often extensions of the self - made visible in symbolic art form. Children tend to feel safer working with an image than talking more directly about their issues and appreciate the gentler process. Dialoguing with the image in a person-centred way can help to make connections and bridges between the image and the self.
Sandplay
Sandplay is particularly popular and is a powerful and compelling non-verbal physical activity that involves the selection of miniatures from a wide range displayed on shelves and positioning them in the sandtray to create a miniature "world". Children are not restricted by any preconceived ideas about their ability as they might with art so they approach the activity with less inhibition.
Therapeutic Storytelling
A therapeutic story aims to speak with empathy and precision about the emotional issue or problem that the child is struggling with and presents hope and the possibility of a healthier and more creative coping mechanism.
Puppets
Puppets are popular with some children and are a rich source of symbolic play. Shy children sometimes speak more fluently "behind the puppet", which says and does things the child might find too difficult to express overtly.
Creative Visualization
Creative Visualization is the technique of using one's imagination to visualize specific positive behaviours or events focussing on information from as many senses as possible to increase the intensity of the experience.
Music
The aim is to enable the child to feel comfortable and confident to express himself/herself through the musical instruments and to enjoy communicating a wider range of emotions in a two-way relationship, including aspects of interpersonal timing, attuned reciprocity in shared play, turn taking, listening and responding to the other person.
Clay
Clay allows three-dimensional work that can be moulded and altered thus having more flexibility and possibly more reality than drawing or painting. Children can change their minds as they go along, so often their hands, rather than their heads lead the way
Therapeutic Board Games
Some children prefer the structure of a board game and are eager to earn tokens by answering questions related to the theme of the game. There are games about anxiety, self-esteem, bullying, parental divorce, bereavement, positive thinking and social skills.
I have experience of working with children who have: low self-esteem, difficulty making and keeping friendships, children suffering from anxiety, appearing withdrawn, being bullied, suffering with eating disorders, depression, phobias, or experiencing panic attacks, and children who have been bereaved.
I also have experience of working with children with behaviour problems; expressing their anger inappropriately, children who are bullying other children, children with attachment problems, ADHD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Autism, Asperger's Syndrome, Tourette's Syndrome, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and PTSD.
If you are concerned about your child please do ring me and if appropriate we can arrange to meet to discuss your concerns further and decide whether they are likely to benefit from play therapy.