Therapeutic Play Therapy

Play therapy first began to materialize in the early part of the twentieth century, as theorists such as Anna Freud and Melanie Klein developed their own concepts of how to obtain insight into the inner emotional world of a child through the media of play (Rye, 2010).

If play is a child's language, then toys can be taken as the words. With play therapy the child can resolve their difficulties and concerns utilizing the toys that they pick, exposing their inner thoughts and discussions. With play the child has the ability to check out numerous circumstances and habits in a supportive environment. Genuine favorable regard and approval urges the child to feel safe adequate to be able to discover

Haslam, D., Harris, S. (2011). Integrating Play and Family Therapy Methods: A Survey of Play

Therapeutic play, (including play therapy) , is a well established discipline predicated upon a number of psychological theories. Research, both qualitative and quantitative shows that it is highly efficacious in many cases. Recent research by PTUK, an organisation affiliated to PTI, suggests that 71% of the children referred to play therapy will show a positive change. A safe, confidential and caring environment is engendered which sanctions the child to play with as few limits as possible but as many as indispensable (for physical and emotional safety). This sanctions rejuvenating to occur on many calibers following our natural inner trend towards health. Play and ingeniousness operate on impulses from outside our cognizance - the insensate.

My topic of inquiry I have chosen to research for this report is; is play therapy an effective treatment for Children with Post traumatic stress disorder. I was drawn to this topic as I have had an interest in working with Children who have experienced Trauma and have a diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder under the criteria of the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-IV). I worked on a personal level with many children who have experienced traumatic events such as natural disasters and have seen the impact that these traumas have had on them and I am curious to know if play therapy is an effective way of working with children who have Post-traumatic stress disorder. I wanted to explore this more as children find it difficult to articulate their thoughts and feelings and I want to know if play therapy is an effective way of helping them to express their thoughts and feelings. I also wanted to find out why Play Therapy is not really recognised in New Zealand and why there is such a limited amount of Play Therapists in New Zealand. I became interested in this topic when I took a child to play therapy and seen the impact that these sessions had on their development and behaviour and this drew me to want to find out why this treatment is not used more widely with children as play is a natural aspect of their development.

For some, play appears to be a child-specific occurrence associated with the healthy development of a child. However, when it becomes a therapeutic tool, there is limited exposure to fall on. Thus, we are wondering how therapeutic play works in the professional setting. Christina Brown in her discussion of how play is the innate mechanism of expression and communication of a developing child address not only benefits of play, but specific cases where play was the therapeutic tool that overturned positive treatment outcomes. Moreover, this is not play therapy. The cases she provided were not performed in a psychological setting or to render specific psychological benefits. In fact, the cases she uses to bolster her claims demonstrate the therapeutic

Schaefer and Drewes address in their book how to implement a play therapy program in school settings, play-based prevention programs, individual play therapy approaches as well as group play and play therapy with special needs children, such as mute, homeless and autistic children. They also discuss cognitive-behavioral play therapy, trauma-focused group work and training teachers to use play therapy. The two experts talk about how play is not only essential for promoting normal child development, but how it also has many therapeutic powers as well. All of these therapies require the formation of a therapeutic relationship along with some sort of medium to exchange the therapy between the child and the therapist. The general use of play helps

Reviewing the article “Fifteen Effective Play Therapy Techniques” provided brief, but effective uses of the various techniques. A few play therapy techniques recommendations were for older children, and was not appropriate for me to practice using. In brief conversation with my spouse we both came to agreement that she loves bubbles in any fashion. Taking in consideration of the age of child I chose Bubble Breaths. In beginning, I read this particular technique for about 2 days to ensure it was suited, and if she displayed any over those behaviors in that timeframe. As teacher I am comfortable teaching techniques that are academic based, but I was nervous try a therapeutic technique on young child. The thoughts that were what if it was not

The involvement of families in play therapy helps in maximizing the benefits and outcomes for children. VanFleet, &Sywulak (2010), argue that family involvement in play therapy has resulted in a significant reduction of mental health problems among preschool children who are at risk.

Play therapy is generally employed with children aged 3 through 11 and provides a way for them to express their experiences and feelings through a natural, self-guided, self-healing process. As children’s experiences and knowledge are often communicated through play, it becomes an important vehicle for them to know and accept themselves and others.

The origin of play therapy, a type of psychotherapy can be traced back to Sigmund Freud. Play therapy has an array of different modalities . Such modalities include structured play therapy, unstructured play therapy, and filial play therapy. Structured play therapy, developed by Freud, is a form of play therapy where the therapist is in charge of the therapy process. Structured play therapy has a psychoanalytic approach and is characterized by a belief that play has therapeutic value to children. Unstructured play therapy, also referred to as nondirective play therapy and client-centered play therapy, is built upon the client-centered approach of Carl Rogers. Unstructured play therapy is characterized by a therapy that is child-directed

Play therapy is defined as when a counsellor sees and makes use of toys as an essential and prominent way for children to communicate with other children (Vernon, p.123). Also, as Vernon quoted Thompson and Henderson (2006), play is essentially a mode of communication that young children use to exchange communication and solve issues (Vernon, p. 123).

Play is an essential part of every child’s life and it is vital for the enjoyment of childhood as well as social, emotional, intellectual and physical development. From birth to age three, play encourages self-reliance and helps children problem solve and learn about the physical world and how it works. Play also helps build relationships between a child and his parents, caregivers, and teachers. During play, adults have the chance to observe a child’s behaviours and participate in his activities. It is a great way to gain insight about a child’s perceptions and feelings, and how they understand the world. Children learn by leading their own play, and taking part in play that is guided by

• Play therapy is the systematic utility of a therapist’s guiding theoretical framework to establish

Play also has other beneficial elements to it as well, like it reduces stress and conflicts. Because it has these beneficial qualities, therapist will sometimes use it to help children cope with the difficulties in their lives. There are also different types of play that children participate in. The first type is sensorimotor and practice play. The book defines this play as “behavior by infants to derive pleasure from exercising their sensorimotor schemes” (Santrock 500). During this play they are exploring their environment and surrounds and learning how things work. They will sometimes participate in practice play, which is where they repeat a behavior over and over again until the master the skill they are working on. Practice play does decrease with age because the child has usually mastered it by then. The next type of play is the pretense/symbolic play which is when “a child transforms aspects of the physical environment into symbols” (Santrock 500). This type of play usually takes place between 9 to 30 months old and this is when they start using their imagination to play pretend. This is an important type of play because it helps children develop cognitive skills like balancing social roles, testing reality-pretense distinction, and role taking abilities (Santrock 500). Social play is the next type of play and it is simply just how children interact with their peers. This play could be conversations, games, and actual physical play. Next is constructive play and it is a “combination of sensorimotor/practice play with symbolic representation” (Santrock 500). This play usually takes place in preschool and elementary aged children. This type of play for example is drawing outlines of objects instead of just smudges with their fingers. The last type of play is games, an obvious type of play for children. This play is defined as “activities that are engaged