THERAPY FOR CHILDREN THAT ALLOWS HEALING THROUGH PLAY
PLAY is a natural and spontaneous part of peoples lives. During play children learn about their physical surroundings, their own capabilities and limitations, social rules and the difference between fantasy and reality. In play, children interact with toys and other people as they enter new experiences and rehearse new skills. In addition, play is one way children learn to communicate. IN PLAY THEY CAN SHOW OTHERS THINGS THAT ARE TOO COMPLICATED TO SAY.
PLAY THERAPY is used for many reasons. Play promotes healthy development. It helps build a positive relationship between the therapist and child. Play is fun and helps engage the child in the therapy session. Children can often communicate their difficulties more effectively through play than through language.
ONCE CHILDREN HAVE EXPRESSED THEIR EXPERIENCE THROUGH THE SYMBOLISM OF PLAY, THERE IS NO NEED FOR THEM TO EXPRESS IT THROUGH BEHAVIORS
PLAY THERAPY makes use of one or more of the natural benefits of play. Play Therapy differs from regular play in that the therapist helps children systematically address and resolve their own problems. Since play is fun, it makes it easier for children to confront what is bothering them. Play allows children a safe psychological distance from their problems and allows them to express their true thoughts and feelings in ways best suited to their developmental level. Once children have expressed and addressed their problems through play, the therapist will be better able to help them find solutions to their problems in life.
Children are brought in to Play Therapy to safely address and resolve their problems. Often by the time children arrive for therapy, they have used up all their options for solving problems and simply do not know what else to do. By this time a child may be acting out at home, with friends, and at school. Play therapy allows trained counselors to assess and understand children's play and to use it in assisting the child in coping with difficult emotions and in finding solutions to their problems.
Research suggest that it takes an average of twenty play therapy visits to resolve the problems of a typical child. Some children may improve much faster while serious or ongoing problems may take longer to resolve.
CHILDREN BENEFIT FROM PLAY THERAPY in many ways.
Research supports the effectiveness of Play Therapy with children experiencing a wide variety of social, emotional, behavioral, and learning problems including:
- post-traumatic stress
- conduct disorder
- aggression
- anxiety/fearfulness
- depression
- ADHD
- impulsivity
- low self-esteem
- reading difficulties and
- social withdrawal.
Play Therapy has been successful with children who are experiencing problems related to life stressors such as, divorce, death, relocation, hospitalizatoin, chronic illness, physical/sexual abuse, domestic violence, and natural disasters.
PLAY THERAPY HELPS CHILDREN:
- Take responsibility for their behaviors and replace inappropriate behavior with more successful behavior.
- Develop new and creative solutions to their problems.
- Develop respect and acceptance of themselve and others.
- Learn to experience and express emotion and to be empathic with respect to the thoughts and feelings of others.
- Learn new social skills.
FAMILIES PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE
Families are important in children getting better. Sometimes children develop problems as a way of signaling there is something wrong in the family. Other times the entire family becomes distressed because of the child's problem. In all cases, children and families heal faster when they work together. The play therapist will make decisions about how and when to involve some or all members of the family. At a minimum, the therapist will communicate regularly with the child's caregivers. At times, the therapist will include the primary caregiver in the process of play therapy which is called Filial Play Therapy.
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