Play Therapy in Wellington, FL
What, exactly, is play therapy?
Imagine being instructed to walk up to a stranger and describe your most embarrassing or traumatic experience. You might take a big pause. Feel hesitant. You might even resist the assignment altogether and run the other way.
As an adult this may seem like a strenuous task to do, just think of how much harder it would be for a child to put that experience into words, let alone feel comfortable doing so.
“Play therapy can be defined as a means of creating intense relationship experiences between therapist and children or young people in which play is the principal medium of communication.” (Landreth 2012).
To put it in the simplest way:
In play therapy, the play is their talk. The toys tell their story.
“Enter into children’s play and you will find the place where their minds, hearts, and souls meet.”
~ Virginia Axline
The power of play
Play therapy is not the same as whipping out our childhood CandyLand board game or opening a tub of playdoh.
Our staff at Healing with Play are skilled, strategic and trained in specialized techniques that help our clients process their feelings, experiences, and thoughts.
Some of the therapeutic powers of play include:
- Self-Esteem
- Self- Expression
- Empathy
- Stress Management
- Problem Solving
- Positive Emotions
- Self- Regulation
- Attachment
- Social Competence
- Moral Development
*According to Schaefer and Drewes