All About Play & Creative Arts Therapy
PLAY IS ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAYS TO ENGAGE CHILDREN WITHIN THE THERAPEUTIC PROCESS.
In a nutshell, Play Therapy is therapy through play. After all, children do not need to be shown how to play. Children and young people may not have the words to articulate what is happening inside their hearts, bodies and minds.
View the Play Therapy Tool Kit that I use.
It’s my role to observe, interact, reflect, and empower them to express these sometimes painful and traumatic memories. No matter how rough the seas get within the therapeutic process, I will stand strong, beside them, holding the space for them, knowing that these waters will calm, they will then begin to see life will be worth living to the fullest.
'The child's world is based on movement, activity and creativity. Play Therapy provides a bridge to enter into the child's world and discover it as they see it.'
-Landreth, 1991
Play Therapy has the power to transform lives for not only the child, their families and for the wider community. Play Therapy can support young people with ADD, ADHD, PDA, Anger management, anxiety, depression, separation anxiety, trauma, disrupted attachment, grief and loss, divorce or family separation, sibling rivalry, personal, social and emotional development etc.
Understand more about who play therapy is for, how it works and what the next steps are by selecting the icons below.
FAQs
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Sessions are 40 minutes in length and are child-led. This means that a child has the choice to select the resources they would like to use in the session. I use different non-directive techniques (Mirroring, reflecting and shuttling) to support the child in gaining a deeper understanding of themselves which in turn leads to a higher probability of lasting change.
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No. I use reflective language. If a young person says "I am so angry I'm smacking the clay." My reflection may sound like "you are feeling angry and are smacking the clay."
Reflective language can provide a way of viewing our inner selves.
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The beauty of play and creative arts therapy is that a session can be therapeutic even without words. These sessions may look like me reflecting the energy and movements within the session and paying close attention to body language.
These techniques are also used in speaking sessions.
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I have a large variety of resources that can be used within the therapeutic sessions. The toolkit stays the same week after week. This provides security and reliability to sessions. Introducing a new toy can evoke discomfort and can evoke memories that a child is not ready to process. It is for these reasons I ask no additional toys are brought into the sessions.
Note: There are times when this is needed, transitional objects for example and these will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
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Parts of the tool kit are in their nature messy. Messy play, painting and clay. Aprons are provided to contain the mess within a session. There maybe at times where hands, feet or even elbows end in the messy play tray. There may be elements of this process on their clothing.
Clay once dried can be dusted off and aprons are provided to keep clothing clean.
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Sessions are confidential and although a young person may chose to talk about what has happened within the session, please avoid starting the conversation.
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At the beginning of every play therapy cycle, a young person will be provided with a bag/box to contain all of their creative process. This may be pictures, paintings, clay work or even foraged items. These items will remain in the bag until the play therapy cycle has been completed. Your child will then be allowed to look through all the items they have made and bring home any they wish.