Play Therapy for Kids
“Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.”
You may be wondering if play therapy is a good option for your child. Maybe you have noticed that your child may be able to describe how he is feeling, but just talking about the problem (over and over again) doesn’t seem to be helping. Play therapy can be a fantastic option for many kids, and is often more effective for children’s problems than talk therapy alone. It might be particularly helpful to your child if she fits in some of the following categories:
Appears more anxious or worried than you’d expect for a child his age
Has trouble making or keeping friends, prefers to play alone, or has difficulties taking turns
Has recently gone through a stressful life experience or major life change such as divorce, a move, a death in the family, or welcoming a new child or step-parent into the family
Struggles to focus or pay attention, especially if this is a new trait
Says negative things about herself or has low self-esteem
Is between the ages of 3-12
Is at a developmental level where he or she enjoys toys or pretend play
How can play therapy help a child?
Play therapy taps into the natural method for learning, healing, and growing that your child already uses every day. Children use their play to make sense of what happens to them in their day-to-day lives, vent their feelings, and to learn and practice new skills. Have you ever noticed your child go through a phase of intense interest in one toy or game? When kids play like this, they’re often working on learning something new about themselves or the world around them.
In play therapy, kids are given a way of communicating their feelings and exploring problems that doesn’t rely on sitting still, looking an adult in the eyes, and using their words. Even smart and articulate kids can have trouble verbalizing everything that they are feeling and experiencing. In play therapy, there is no pressure to say or do the right thing, and the events and feelings that are most pressing to them at the moment are able to arise naturally through the play.
How does play therapy work?
Instead of sitting in an office with a couch and chairs, play therapy sessions are held in a special playroom stocked with toys. Although the toys themselves may look familiar, they are all included in the playroom to serve a specific purpose. You may see toys to help release feelings of anger, like punching bags, toys for sensory play, like sandboxes, and toys for pretend play, like costumes and dollhouses.
What you probably won’t see are electronic toys with screens. In play therapy, we want to encourage kids to use their imaginations and take a break from screen time! The child is accompanied in the play room at all times by a trained play therapist. Based on a child’s particular needs, the therapist may allow the child to select a play activity that most interests him, or the therapist may make a suggestion of an activity for the day. Either way, the play therapist’s job is to be a support to the child, helping her to explore her feelings more fully.
My child plays all day…how is play therapy different?
If I were considering play therapy, this is a question I would ask! You might wonder why a child benefits from play therapy, and how it is any different than the kind of play a child does at home. Having a play therapist in the room really changes how the play looks and feels.
When a child is playing with friends, it’s not just about them: they have to negotiate how to play with other children who may have their own interests and agendas (and who may not be very polite about sharing them). A play therapist’s job is to be fully focused on the needs of the individual child, which isn’t always the experience kids have when they’re playing with their peers or alone at home.
Also, because the therapist has witnessed so many children at play, she may be able to notice feelings or issues being worked out that would be difficult to spot by an untrained observer. The play therapist can act like a bridge between the child and the parent, helping each to understand what the other is trying to communicate, whether it is done through play or with words.
I often find that children don’t get many opportunities for free, unstructured, imaginative play. They may have busy schedules filled with team sports, music lessons, or other organized activities that have their own benefits but are different than free play. When kids are home, they are more likely than any generation before them to spend their free time with a screen, playing games on a phone or tablet. As a result, kids don’t have much room left for the sort of open-ended, rule-free, creative play offered in a play therapy session. This kind of play is like a vitamin for a child’s mental health: it strengthens self-esteem, provides an outlet for strong feelings, and can improve their ability to connect with their family and friends.
Play Therapy in Davidson, North Carolina
I offer play therapy in Davidson, NC. If you’re in the Charlotte or Lake Norman areas, here’s some more info about what play therapy with me looks like:
I specialize in work with children who are having problems due to anxiety or trauma. Because I focus specifically on kids with these struggles, I spend lots of time thinking about what it is like to have fears or worries from a child’s perspective. Your child may worry that she’s the only child who has ever been bothered by a particular thought or fear, but I can almost guarantee that I have heard it before!
I’m a Registered Play Therapist, meaning that I have completed comprehensive training in this field beyond my Master’s degree. This helps me to not just use toys in counseling, but use my education to help children make new discoveries and process feelings through their play. In particular, I have specialized in 2 forms of play-based therapy for trauma. I like to combine play therapy with other approaches, like cognitive-behavioral therapy, to create a personalized plan for each individual child.
If you’d like to learn more, please email to request an appointment, or call me to schedule a free 15-minute consultation.
Blog Posts on Play Therapy for Kids
If you’d like even more information on play therapy, I write on this subject on my blog. You can also check out a few selected posts below:
What’s a Registered Play Therapist?
How to Teach Gratitude Through Play: 3 Tips from a Play Therapist
