Play Therapy

“Play is the language of children. Toys are their words.”

Significance of Developmental Play

• Children explore their world at an experiential level rather than a cognitive level

• Play is their way of expressing feelings about the world as well as feelings about themselves

• Counselor meets the child at his/her level rather than the adult level

Who Benefits from Play Therapy?

• Children 3 - 10 (or even older)• Traumatized children• Selectively mute children• Autism spectrum children• Impulse Control *Difficult working with young children

without it.

Approaches to Play Therapy

• Directive - Therapist knows where the child needs to go therefore guides the session

• Nondirective - Child guides the sessions. Therapist believes that child knows where to go so child leads the way

The Directive Play Therapist

• Directs the session based on understanding of the child’s needs

• Chooses specific activities that will address child’s issues

• Joins play without being invited by the child

*Does all of this with kindness and empathy

Example: Change the Channel

Statements in Directive Play

• “Let’s do a clay pummel to let all of your angry feelings out.”

• “Can you make your world for me out of Moon Sand?”

• “Lets choose your feelings for the day.”• “Let me help you with that.”

When to Use Directive Play

• When the presenting problem is clear• After you’ve developed a connection

with a child• When you only have a limited number

of sessions• When you only have a limited amount

of time

The Non-Directive Play Therapist

• Child chooses the toys they want to play with

• Child chooses the activities that are done within a session

• Child chooses if counselor plays or does not play

• Counselor “tracks” what the child says

Tracking Statements for Non-Directive Play

“The dinosaur is very angry.”“You are wanting to play with the sand today.”“You’re frustrated because the lid won’t come

off.”“You’re having trouble deciding what to do

today.”

*Therapist has a“hands-off”approach.

When to Use Non-Directive Play

• When you don’t have a clear idea of what the issue is

• Before child develops a connection and trusts you

• When a child is resistant to directive play• When a child is rigid and lacks imagination

Integrating Directive and Non-Directive Play

Structuring Sessions: Directive in the first part of the session, Non-Directive in the second part

Building Connection: Start with Non-Directive and move to Directive Later

Child has specific issue: Directive activity for whole session to address it

Child is frustrated or shut down: All Non-DirectiveIssue is too scary: All Non-Directive

Who Can Practice Play Therapy?

• You do not have to be an RPT to do play therapy

• You should receive training and supervision and practice within your scope of knowledge

• Just because you have toys doesn’t mean your doing play therapy

Registered Play Therapistwww.a4pt.orgMust be a licensed mental health professional first:

LPC, LCSW, Ph.D.2 years and 2,000 hours of supervised clinical

experience.150 CEU’s in Play Therapy

WorkshopsGraduate Classes

50 Hours of Direct Supervision500 hours of Supervised Play Therapy experience

Recommended Play Materials

• Dolls, bottles, dollhouse, multicultural people

• Aggressive and domestic miniature animals; puppets

• Clay, arts/crafts materials

• Cars/trucks, emergency vehicles, planes

• Wooden blocks, balls• Sand tray with sand

Criteria for Toys• Toys must be sanitary• They must represent a reality in

the child’s life• They must fit the population

you’re working with (i.e. AA doll for AA population)

• They must be non-descript (choose Barbie instead of Hannah Montana doll)

Where to Buy Toys

• www.toysofthetrade.com• www.annastoydepot.com• www.childtherapytoys.com• APT annual conference• Workshops• Dollar General

Therapeutic Meaning of Toys

• Airplane - escape, freedom, protection• Wild Animals - aggression, fear, survival• Baby bottle - regression, nurturing• Ball - relationships, trust• Blocks - boundaries, rigidity, vulnerability• Cars - mobility, power• Doctor’s kit - healing, repair, power

• Dolls - self identity, regression• Dollhouse - family• Flashlight - control, secrecy• Magic Wand - fantasy, wishes, future• Soldiers - conflict, attack• Telephone - communication• Unicorn, Wizard - wishes for change

Setting up Your Space• Determine how much space you

can designate for play area• Try to allow room for

parents/adolescents to sit if applicable

• Arrange toys in areas: arts/crafts area, miniature area, puppet area, sand tray area