“Play Therapy is based upon the fact that play is the child’s natural medium of self expression … It is an opportunity which is given to the child to ‘play out’ his feelings and problems just as in certain types of adult therapy an individual ‘talks out’ his difficulties.” – Virginia Axline, pioneer in the use of Play Therapy.
As a parent you want what is best for your child. Seeing your child struggle breaks your heart. You would do anything to help them, and it frustrates and worries you when you feel unsure of what do to make things better. Sometimes, kids need a place where they can work through their worries and anger in a way that suits them best. Sometimes they just need to talk to someone that isn’t their parents, and sometimes kids can’t, or just don’t want, to talk about it.
The human brain is wired for play. Starting in infancy, human beings use play to learn about, and how to interact with, their environment. Play serves as a medium through which humans begin to negotiate relationships and develop self-regulation. As they age, humans continue to utilize play to communicate with one another and their world.
Play Therapy is an approach to therapy with children (and adults) that utilizes the therapeutic, neurobiologically based, value of play to help promote healing. It also allows children to use their most developmentally appropriate form of communicating to work through experiences that are troubling them.