Play Therapy

“Play Therapy is based upon the fact that play is the child’s natural medium of self-expression. It is an opportunity which is given to the child to ‘play out’ his feelings and problems just as, in certain types of adult therapy, an individual ‘talks out’ his difficulties.”~Virginia Axline

Dark times

My baby is in first grade, and…

Sara felt totally helpless watching her formerly curious and effervescent six-year-old Joshua become clingy and skittish.

Joshua loved his first week of first grade, but soon he digressed and complained about stomach aches and not feeling well, almost daily, so he could stay home from school.

Teenagers – the challenges they face

Blake and his wife lay awake night after night worried for their teenage daughter Hayleigh. Once an honors student, pitcher for the school softball team, and soloist in the ensemble, Hayleigh had recently become isolated – shutting herself up in her room as soon as she came home from school.

Hayleigh stayed up most of the night on her cell phone, hiding things, and refusing to talk to them. Last week, the principal had called to inform them that Hayleigh was being placed on suspension for skipping class and on academic probation for poor grades.

Anything sound familiar?

“What’s happening to my ‘baby’????”

Your child is changing in front of your very eyes. But you can’t understand why.

For whatever reason, your once happy child is losing all his or her joy.

You don’t get it. And it’s scaring you – because your child is a great kid.

And you can’t stand seeing him or her struggle.

You need help.

But there’s light.

Therapy can be the answer. Children heal faster than adults because they haven’t accumulated the amount of “baggage” that most adults carry around.

In addition, most children we’ve worked with are very motivated to change. Some want therapy, while others need more support to understand the benefit.

But we’ll meet you and your child where you are.

The therapy process:

First, we complete an intake with parents, during which we document the child’s history, any symptoms, and develop therapy goals.

At the next session, the child comes in to explore the office and begin establishing a rapport with the therapist. The child’s safety and security are essential to successful therapy. To help with that, we use a variety of tools such as games, dolls, puppets, books, and clay.

Regular Play vs. Play Therapy

The trained therapist makes therapeutic play different from regular play in a number of important ways:

First, we focus total attention on your child – the toys chosen, the way the child plays with them, the dialogue the child has during play, and the nature of the play (energetic, passive, aggressive, etc.).

During play, we analyze the symbolic communication of the play, and we help put words to the feelings shown. In this way, we facilitate healing by helping the child in discharging his or her emotions in a healthy way and by teaching the child positive coping skills.

We then encourage the child to practice these skills repetitively – in a safe environment.

Why play therapy?

Play therapy has numerous benefits.

It reduces anxiety about traumatic events in the child’s life such as illness, death, parental conflict, separation, and divorce – even when abuse has been a contributing factor.

It’s also proven helpful in the treatment of childhood depression.

While dealing with these issues, it also promotes higher emotional intelligence, including social skills for autistic and special needs children.

And that’s not all. It can alleviate sleep disorders, behavioral and school problems, ADHD and other learning disabilities.

A brighter future

We will be honored to guide you and your family through the pain and into healing. Contact us today.