is Play Therapy?
Imagine – you are a parent whose 9 year old daughter
is sad and worried or whose 4 year old son is being expelled from
pre-school because he hit another child and yelled at the teacher.
You ask your child what is wrong and he or she looks at you blankly
and says “Nothing. I don’t know”. Your pediatrician
recommends child psychotherapy. When you follow through, the therapist
says, “I am a play therapist and using play, we will work
through this problem, understand it and come to a solution so that
and the family will get back to their normal life.”
The Value of Play
Why is the therapist suggesting using play rather than talk? Play is the way
that children learn about and explore the world, freely express their thoughts
and feelings and develop physically, socially, intellectually and emotionally.
Play is not trivial; rather it is one of the most critical elements in healthy
Thousands of years ago, the Greek philosopher Plato
"You can discover more about
a person in an hour of play
than in a year of conversation."
Recently (2006) in “Psychology Today” Hara
“Play makes children nimble-neurobiologically,
mentally, behaviorally-capable of adapting to a rapidly evolving
world. That makes it just about the best preparation for life
in the 21st century… Think of play as the future with sneakers
Play Therapy for Children
As adults we talk through our problems and in the process, gain insight, mentally
try on different solutions and resolve or make peace with the issues involved.
However, children-even very bright children-do not have the same cognitive
ability to process emotions verbally, but use play to work out the problem
and try on different solutions. Doing so in the safe presence of an accepting
adult allows for healing.
Play therapy is a modality that uses the child’s
natural language of play in a structured and healing manner. Play
therapy enables a child to work through difficult experiences, which
have caused their normal growth and development to be stymied and
delayed. Play therapy interventions take place in a therapeutic playroom.
The playroom is usually filled with a wide variety of toys, which
are the “words” of the child’s language of play.
The toys in the playroom are chosen to allow a child to play out
different therapeutic themes. For example, dinosaurs, soldiers and
bop bags allow for aggressive play; dolls, baby bottles and blankets
allow for nurturance play; a doll house, puppets and family figures
(human and animals) encourage family relational play; and art supplies,
dress up, containers of sand create opportunities for a variety of
imaginary play themes related to trauma, death & dying, divorce
and more. Books and games may also be used.
Through play, issues can be approached directly or
through metaphor, fantasy and imagination. For example, the depressed
girl may create a story placing miniature toys in a sand box in which
the animals become ill and it becomes clear that she is worried about
her grandmother’s serious illness, but is afraid to discuss
it. The preschooler may play out his aggressiveness using car crashes
and dinosaurs and then ask to be held like a baby, but be unable
to explain that he is jealous of his new baby brother. The child
may or may not accept the metaphor as representing his or her actual
Children are more relaxed, comfortable, open and feel
safer when they play. Therefore, play therapy is the modality of
choice for children up to the age of 12. Once a child expresses and
addresses their problems through play, it will be easier for them
to find a long lasting solution in their everyday life.
What Happens in Play Therapy?
The following are examples of three very different and valid play therapy approaches
as described in (“Introduction To Play Therapy” from Play Therapy:
Basics and Beyond by Terry Kottman. P. 3 & 4.)
Example 1. Maurice walks into a room
in which there is an assortment of toys on the shelves and on the
floor—puppets, a doll house and dolls, cars, trucks, a wooden
stove and refrigerator, plastic snakes and spiders and many other
play materials. He looks around the room, picks up a family of rabbits
and starts telling a story about the little rabbit who always gets
into trouble and believes no-one cares about him. A woman who is
sitting with him talks to him about his play-reflects the feelings
of the little bunny, makes comments about what is happening between
the little bunny and the rest of the bunny family and stops him when
he tries to throw the rabbit out of the window. This is an example
of Child Centered Play Therapy, a non-directive play therapy in which
the child directs the play, except when limits are needed. This therapy
is utilized for many different issues and is not specific to a particular
type of problem.
Example 2. Sally comes into a room
with no toys at all. A man there tells her that they are going to
play with one another and brings out several different hats and they
both try on hats making faces at a mirror. This is an example of
Directive Play Therapy for children who are on the autistic spectrum
and need specialized help learning to express emotions.
Example 3. Khalid comes into a room
with a few cars and trucks. A woman sitting at a table suggests that
Khalid use the cars and trucks to show her what happened when a car
crashed into his family.This is an example of another type of Directive
Play Therapy, designed to help children work through a specific trauma.
In addition to a child receiving individual play therapy,
families are often involved in play therapy. The section on Filial
Therapy explains how the parents are thoroughly involved in the
play therapy process and become the “healers of their own child.”