PLAY THERAPY

Why Play Therapy?
Play is the natural language of children. Play relieves feelings of stress and boredom, connects us to people in a positive way, stimulates creative thinking and exploration, regulates our emotions, and boosts our ego (Landreth, 2002). In addition, play allows us to practice skills and roles needed for survival. Learning and development are best fostered through play (Russ, 2004).
What is Play Therapy?
Play therapy is a structured, theoretically based approach to therapy that builds on the normal communicative and learning processes of children. Further, play therapy is utilized to help children cope with difficult emotions and find solutions to problems. By confronting problems in the clinical Play Therapy setting, children find healthier solutions. Play therapy allows children to change the way they think about, feel toward, and resolve their concerns. Even the most troubling problems can be confronted in play therapy and lasting resolutions can be discovered, rehearsed, mastered and adapted into lifelong strategies.
How Can Play Therapy help my child?
Play Therapy expands self-expression, self-knowledge, self-actualization and self-efficacy.
Play Therapy stimulates creative thinking and exploration, regulates our emotions, and boosts our ego.
In addition, Play Therapy allows us to practice skills and roles needed for survival.
Play allows children a safe and psychological distance from their problems and allows them to express their true thoughts and feelings in ways best suited to their developmental level.

