What is play therapy?
Play therapy acts like a ‘brain sculptor’, it is a method of helping children with behaviour and emotional problems to help themselves.
Play is the child’s natural medium of self expression, it is essential for development. Play therapy offers the opportunity to ‘play out’ children’s feelings and emotions with a therapeutic objective. The method used in the work with children is child centred, non directive and integrative holistic. Play therapy integrates a number of factors looking at the whole child and it’s environment as well as understanding the child’s perspective.
A full range of therapeutic creative arts media are used for communicating with children ( sand tray worlds, painting and drawing, clay, music, puppets, dance and movement, creative visualisation and therapeutic story telling). There is a close focus on the child and working alongside the child. Reflect only when it adds to the child’s process. The therapist recognises that each child is different and has unique needs and the philosophy of the method is based on Axline’s Principles. Integrative Holistic is referring to the tools and techniques available which are: creative visualisation ( understanding and thinking),storytelling (moral and spiritual development), drama ( social relationships), puppets and masks ( carrying for self), art ( creativity and aesthetics), music ( communication), dance and movement ( physical) and sand play (emotional).
The tool kit consisting of various creative arts media integrates directive and non directive approaches, working with the conscious and unconscious; it combines theory with neurobiological evidence, practice and research.
The method is holistic as it looks at the whole child and their environment as well as understanding the child’s perspective.
During a play therapy session , through play, children explore emotions and deal with unresolved issues, learning new coping mechanisms and how to redirect inappropriate behaviours. The child is able to choose symbols and games as they see fit, with few instructions or interruptions.