What is Play Therapy?

When asked what exactly Play Therapy is, the best way I can describe it is as follows: 

Play Therapy is to children/kids, what counselling is to adults! As an adult, you  are developmentally more aware of your emotions, and likely you can describe these emotions verbally. However, children haven’t quite reached that point, and that’s where play therapy comes in. This type of therapy is a form of expressive therapy, where your child shows me how they view their world through their play. They can also show me how they are feeling through their play (ex. Re-enacting aggressive play through dolls or figurines).

As a therapist implementing play therapy, one of the roles I take on is vulnerability; showing the child my true emotions when they grab a lion puppet and yell “roar!” in my face. I do this for two reasons. 

• First, to see how they respond to another human reacting to their actions.

• Second, to model that even as an adult, it is safe to show emotions and be vulnerable. 

When you share that one of your goals for your child’s  participation in play therapy is for them to learn coping skills/strategies, I always add that we must first identify the true emotion before we can find an appropriate coping strategy for it. Sometimes your child might display what you notice to be anger, we see anger in the child on the outside, but underneath that anger, could be sadness or guilt. Play therapy is great at helping myself and the child discover the underlying emotion.

This is just a brief summary of Play Therapy. I could honestly write pages and pages about it!

But I’d like to end this description by referring back to the above line,

“Play Therapy is to children/kids, what counselling is to adults!”

Ultimately, your child coming to therapy allows them a safe space to share their thoughts and feelings, without judgment, guilt or shame. Whether they come once a week or once a month, “therapy” becomes normalized to them. And by you, the parent or caregiver, encouraging them to attend, you break the stigma around mental health, and model that their mental health is a priority!

If you’d like to learn more about Play Therapy before setting up an initial session, you can contact our front desk to set up a free 15 minute consultation with me. I welcome any questions or concerns you may have!