Play Therapy

BRIEF SUMMARY

The Association for Play Therapy (APT) defines play therapy as “the systematic use of a theoretical model to establish an interpersonal process wherein trained play therapists use the therapeutic powers of play to help clients prevent or resolve psychosocial difficulties and achieve optimal growth and development.”

Play therapy is to children what counseling is to adults. Play therapy utilizes play, children’s natural medium of expression, to help them express their feelings more easily through toys instead of words. (Center for Play Therapy)

KEY POINTS

• Play therapy is a form of counseling that uses play to communicate with and help children to prevent or resolve psychosocial challenges.
• It is thought to help with better social integration, growth and development, decreased aggression, emotional modulation, social skill development, empathy, trauma resolution, self-efficacy and coping skills.
• Two major approaches are ‘Non-directive play therapy’ and ‘Directive play therapy’.
• The Association for Play Therapists confers its School Based-Registered Play TherapistTM ( SB-RPT) credential upon those licensed or certified school counselors or school psychologists to help consumers identify those with specialized training and experience in play therapy.

RESOURCES

• Center for Play Therapy
• The Association for Play Therapy
• Child Play Works
• Play Therapy International
• Play Therapy in School Counseling

SHARED WISDOM

• Explaining play therapy to children should be done in appropriate language for their developmental level.
• Play Therapy: An Illustrative Case
• Q: Looking for a play therapist in the Indianapolis area
  • A: Lora Hays was a presenter at ISCA.  You can Google her! (Counselortalk, January 2018)

CONTENT FEEDBACK

If you have suggestions, feedback, or resources, please email counselor1stop@inspiresuccess.org and let us know.