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Play therapy:.
Some children experience difficulties in making adjustments. Play therapy provides an opportunity for them to work through these problems in a permissive situation. While adults find relief in talking over their difficulties with an understanding therapist, children often cannot express their thoughts and feelings in words; therefore, it is helpful to allow the child to express him/herself naturally through play. Play therapy can offer the child a unique relationship with an objective and accepting adult who is not in a position to "use" any of his/her disclosures for or against him/her in any way.
Play Therapy is an effective intervention for children with a variety of presenting problems (children who have been abused, those who have experienced loss, children who are ill or disabled or children who have witnessed violence). Play Therapy can offer children a space in which the feelings these experiences generate can be expressed and contained. It cannot change what has happened but it can promote resilience within each child to enable him or her to discover a more hopeful view of the world. Play Therapy is appropriate for children of all ages, but is most often used for children aged between three and twelve years. Play Therapists generally work with individual children but many have experience of working with groups and with siblings.
A trained play therapist understands the metaphorical content of a child's play, and strives to help the child express their needs and discover solutions in a safe, therapeutic environment. Play is the child's natural method of learning, developing, and expressing their feelings. Play Therapy offers children the opportunity to use the power of their own natural creativity and imagination to heal and grow. .
Play therapy takes place in a playroom, specially designed, decorated, and furnished with the toys and equipment children need to use as tools for the dramatic scenes they direct with the therapist.
