Play Therapy

Play Therapy

            Today, I continued to research and plan for the upcoming children groups.  I found several articles and training manuals that discussed play therapy with children who have been sexually abused.  Play therapy is therapy that recognizes that playing is how children learn about their world, concepts, and learn how to problem solve.  Play therapy empowers children by giving them choices and control through toys, role-play, creativity, and story telling. 

The principles of play therapy are:

1.     Develop rapport

2.     Accept child completely

3.     Free to express

4.     Alert to recognize feelings

5.     Therapist maintains a deep respect for child’ problem solving abilities

6.     Child leads the way

7.     No hurrying the therapy along

8.     Therapists anchors everything in reality

            I also have begun compiling lists of activities and exercises that help individuals build strengths.  Trauma leaves children leaves children with emotions they are not also equipped to express or understand.  Many children withdraw, act out, regress or behave in a variety of ways that are inappropriate for their developmental stage.  Play therapy can help a child feel safe while they relearn or learn for the first time to enjoy being a child.