5 Reasons Why Play Therapy is Awesome!

Play therapy is hands-down the best resource for therapist and counselors! I am reminded daily how amazing this is for kids. From my experience, I have seen kids struggle with all kinds of issues and when they are given the opportunity to be seen in a different light… they flourish.

Play is the child’s language.

Gone are the days when therapists or counselors expected kids to sit and talk about their problems. HELLO! Kids don’t even know what their problems are! Kids are not developmentally ready to rationalize and talk cognitively about any subject. They usually end up fabricating some superhero, princess, unicorn story. When in actuality, it was a friendship conflict on the playground!

What is it that kids do best?

PLAY!

This is for good reason! Kids express through play. They need hands-on, verbal and physical interaction to help them learn. During play, their little brains are actually doing a lot of work. Kids can be working on social skills, relationship building, handling emotions, working on cause and effect, learning to handle limits, communicate and express their feelings, needs and wants.

“By engaging in the process of play, children learn to live in our world of meaning and values, at the same time exploring and experimenting and learning in their own individual ways.” ~ Landreth (2012)

Here’s more reading from Garry Landreth

Children learn to respect themselves.

Doing play therapy involves the therapist respecting where the child is and respecting the work the child does. Even if the kiddo has terrible behavior, the therapist understands and values the work to be done without judgment.

Once that is established, children feel respected by the therapist and are able to start internalizing the respect. Their self-esteem starts to rise and they begin respecting themselves. Once this happens, they can start respecting others.

Children find creative ways to solve problems.

In this safe environment, kids don’t have to fear failure. They are free to try creative ways to solve problems and take risks. Children will take pride in trying to do it themselves. They may not want to solve them at first and may try to engage or manipulate the therapist into solving it for them. However, if limits are set, it gives the responsibility back to the child.

This is what I say…

“That is something you can choose.”

“It seems like you want me to do that for you.”

Children learn to express their emotions.

If the therapist creates an accepting and non-judgmental environment, kids will begin playing out their feelings and learning that all feelings are acceptable. Under this environment, kids open up more and feel comfortable expressing themselves freely. Their once big, uncontrollable emotions are now easier to control and manage because they feel the power and responsibility to promote what needs to be changed.

Another amazing part of this is that kids get to practice.

And we all know…. practice makes perfect!

When kids are in the playroom, they get to comfortably express their feelings in a variety of situations and practice using social skills in a non-threatening way.

Children gain responsibility for their behaviors and develop useful strategies.

I once had an amazing professor tell me…

“Everyone has the right to struggle.”

This was so powerful for me as a wife, mom, and counselor. There are times, especially with my people-pleasing personality, where I want to save people from the bad choices and experiences that come from life. I become a protector.

Once I started my journey to counseling and heard this wise woman, I realized I wasn’t helping anyone… including myself!

This relates to playing therapy because kids have the right to struggle and make the wrong choices safely. Don’t we want all kids to make safe, bad choices early in life so they can learn in a safe environment? Once they get older, the consequences get worse. We want them to be good at making choices by this age!

There is no safer place to experiment with choice-making, than a play therapy room. When the therapist is not the one making choices, the child realizes he/she is the only one who can be held responsible. They start to discover what it feels like to make their own choices, struggle and become self-reliant.

To read more on Play Therapy check out the Association for Play Therapy! This is one of my go-to resources for everything play!

Also, check out Play Therapy School Toys

Play therapy is so amazing for kids of all ages! I would love to hear how you use play therapy in your setting…whether that be schools or clinics!

 

Landreth, Garry. Play Therapy: The Art of the Relationship. Third ed., New York, Routledge, 2012.