Play Therapy Works!
Summary
TLDRThis script delves into the transformative power of play therapy, a method used to help children communicate and process their emotions through play. It underscores the importance of play as a child's natural language, essential for their development. Play therapists, equipped with master's degrees and specialized training, utilize a playroom filled with therapeutic toys to facilitate expression and healing. The Association for Play Therapy (APT) supports professionals in maintaining expertise, ensuring the highest standards of care. Play therapy is recognized globally as a credible and effective treatment, particularly for young children who express themselves best through play.
Takeaways
- 😀 Play is a fundamental human activity and a key element in childhood memories.
- 🧠 Children's language skills lag behind their cognitive development, and play serves as their primary form of communication.
- 🔍 Play therapy has been observed for centuries and has been applied in mental health as a form of counseling or psychotherapy.
- 👶 Play therapy is a therapeutic intervention that helps children develop communication skills and express their needs and feelings.
- 🎮 Toys are the 'words' of play therapy, and play is the 'language' that children use to process emotions.
- 🏥 Play therapists often have dedicated playrooms stocked with therapeutic toys to facilitate expression and communication.
- 🤝 Building a relationship and trust with the child is crucial before therapeutic interventions can begin.
- 👩⚕️ Play therapists are licensed mental health professionals with advanced degrees and significant training in play therapy.
- 🌟 The Association for Play Therapy (APT) is a professional organization that supports play therapists with resources and networking opportunities.
- 🌐 Play therapy is recognized and utilized globally, including in the United States and over 30 other countries.
Q & A
What is the significance of play according to Plato?
-Plato believed that play is one of our most fundamental activities and is the essential nature of man.
How does play relate to children's cognitive development?
-Children's language development lags behind their cognitive development, and play serves as their language, allowing them to communicate their experiences.
What is play therapy and how does it benefit children?
-Play therapy is a therapeutic intervention that uses play, which is natural for children, to help them develop communication skills and express their needs, wants, wishes, and feelings in a developmentally appropriate way.
Why are toys important in play therapy?
-Toys are the 'words' of play therapy, allowing children to express themselves when they might have difficulty doing so verbally. The selection of toys is critical to facilitate this expression.
What role does the playroom play in the therapeutic process?
-The playroom is a child's world during counseling, providing a safe place for them to express their emotional lives and be understood by the therapist.
How does a play therapist build a relationship with a child client?
-A play therapist builds a relationship with a child by creating a safe environment, allowing the child to feel comfortable and trust the therapist, which is essential for effective therapy.
What types of issues can play therapy help address?
-Play therapy can help address a wide range of social, emotional, behavioral, and other developmental issues in children.
What qualifications do play therapists typically have?
-Play therapists typically have earned master's or higher degrees and have obtained significant training and supervised clinical experience in play therapy and the primary mental health disciplines.
What is the Association for Play Therapy (APT) and how does it support play therapists?
-The Association for Play Therapy is a national professional society that provides resources, education, and networking opportunities to help play therapists develop and maintain their expertise.
How does the APT help play therapists stay current in their field?
-The APT offers access to core play therapy programs, clinical and professional information, research, graduate-level education, supervised clinical internships, and continuing education programs to help play therapists stay current.
Why is play therapy considered a valuable treatment modality?
-Play therapy is considered valuable because it is a developmentally sensitive approach that meets the clients' needs, especially for young children, by utilizing their natural form of communication, play.
Outlines
🧩 The Power of Play in Therapy
This paragraph discusses the fundamental role of play in human development, particularly in children. Play is described as a child's language, allowing them to communicate cognitively beyond their verbal abilities. It's highlighted that play therapy has been observed for centuries and has been adopted by mental health professionals as a form of counseling. Play therapy is a therapeutic intervention that helps children develop communication skills in a developmentally appropriate manner. Toys serve as tools for children to express their emotions and experiences. The paragraph also explains the importance of a playroom in therapy, where children can feel safe to express themselves. The process of building trust between the therapist and the child is emphasized, as is the role of play therapists in facilitating the therapeutic process using toys and activities to address a range of developmental issues.
🌐 The Role of the Association for Play Therapy
The second paragraph focuses on the Association for Play Therapy (APT), a professional organization that supports play therapists. It details the benefits of being a member of the APT, such as access to core play therapy programs, clinical information, research, education, and networking opportunities. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of continuous learning and staying current with the latest research and best practices in play therapy. The APT is portrayed as a valuable resource for professionals to develop and maintain their expertise. The paragraph concludes with a testimony of how play therapy can empower children to change their perspectives on their life experiences, and it encourages those interested in play therapy to contact the APT for more information.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Play
💡Cognitive Development
💡Play Therapy
💡Therapeutic Toys
💡Playroom
💡Emotional Expression
💡Therapeutic Relationship
💡Developmentally Appropriate
💡Association for Play Therapy (APT)
💡Mental Health Professionals
💡Continuing Education
Highlights
Play is a fundamental human activity and essential to human nature.
Play is a key element in most childhood memories.
Children's language development lags behind their cognitive development, and play serves as their language.
Play allows children to communicate experiences they can't express in words.
Play therapy is a form of counseling or psychotherapy that uses play's inherent curative powers.
Play therapy helps children develop communication skills in a therapeutic setting.
Toys in play therapy are the children's words, aiding in emotional processing.
Play therapy can also benefit older clients who struggle with verbal expression.
Therapists often stock their offices with therapeutic toys to facilitate play therapy.
The playroom provides a safe space for children to express their emotional lives.
Therapists carefully prepare for the first visit to establish a sense of safety and connection with the child.
Building a relationship with the child is crucial for trust and effective therapy.
Once a child feels safe, the therapist facilitates the use of play to make sense of life experiences.
Play therapists are licensed mental health professionals with advanced degrees and training in play therapy.
The Association for Play Therapy (APT) is a professional society that supports play therapists with resources and networking.
APT members have access to play therapy programs, research, and continuing education.
Play therapy is recognized as an important treatment modality by parents, healthcare providers, and insurers.
Play therapy enables children to change their perspective on their life stories, gaining empowerment.
Play therapy is a credible, developmentally sensitive therapeutic discipline that works for children.
APT provides information and resources for those interested in play therapy.
Transcripts
play is one of our most fundamental
activities Plato said it is the
essential nature of man to play in fact
play is undoubtedly the key element and
most if not all of our favorite
childhood memories what we know about
children developmentally is that their
language lags behind their cognitive
development play is their language it's
how they communicate just as adults use
words play is a child's way of
communicating with the adults typically
they aren't able to put feeling words or
actual words to what they may be
experiencing but through the play they
can actually give you insight into what
is really happening for them researchers
have for centuries
observed play and it's obvious benefits
over the past 100 years mental health
professionals have applied the curative
powers inherent and play into a form of
counseling or psychotherapy with an
emerging evidentiary research base
called play therapy play therapy is a
model of therapeutic intervention to use
the children that helps them to develop
their communication skills in a therapy
situation so that they can express their
their needs their wants their wishes and
their feelings in a way that's
developmentally appropriate for them
play therapy works because it's a
natural thing for a child pick up toys
and toys are their words and play as
their language and it helps them to
process emotions and feelings
although play therapy can also help
older clients especially those who have
difficulty verbally expressing
themselves most clients are children to
foster play therapists often stock a
portion of their offices with
therapeutic toys or maintain them in a
playroom the playroom is a child's world
during the counseling experience it's a
safe place for children where they have
the freedom to express their emotional
lives and to be understood by a
therapist who recognizes the healing
power of play toys are the means by
which children express themselves and so
the selection of these toys to
facilitate expression is critical
examples would be dolls and doll houses
castles swords pirate ships animal
figures puppets sand and art supplies
play therapists carefully prepare for
each client's first visit to their play
rooms the child walks in and they look
around the room and the relationship
hasn't started yet so often what we call
it as a safe play that the emotional
disturbance or the purpose of them being
here isn't being acted out yet I'm
starting to connect with them and
they're getting a sense of me and Who I
am and if I'm safe kids will go where
they want to go and a lot of times it's
too
we connected to what's going on in their
lives and they're struggling with
progress can be short time progress can
be long time like with any other kind of
client you kind of need to build a
relationship and it's especially
important with children because you know
they need to learn to trust you and you
know you're not their parents or not
their teacher yet you're a new person
once the child feels safe in the
therapeutic relationship the play
therapist facilitates or helps the child
use play to make sense of their
disruptive life experiences or issues
that need therapeutic interventions
engaged side by side using toys and
expressive activities the play therapist
and child are able to better understand
identify and try to resolve a wide range
of social emotional behavioral and other
developmental issues licensed mental
health professionals who therapeutically
use play to better communicate with and
help clients are called play therapists
play therapists have earned master's or
higher degrees and obtained significant
training and supervised clinical
experience in play therapy and the
primary mental health disciplines
including pediatric and psychiatric
nursing mental health professionals
whether they are University faculty
researchers authors practitioners or
supervisors often contact the
Association for play therapy or a PT a
national professional Society formed in
1982 and its network of state branches
to develop and maintain their play
therapy expertise I found out about the
Association for play therapy as a
graduate student I was in an internship
with someone who's involved with the
Maine chapter of the Association for
play therapy and eventually I became a
member that way
it's a solid organization where I really
trust that they're leading us and
helping us to be the best professionals
that we can be as a PT members they
enjoy affordable access to these core
play therapy programs play therapy
clinical and professional information
and cutting-edge play therapy research
play therapy graduate level education
and supervised clinical internships
offered by universities and continuing
education programs offered by a PT
approved providers the registered play
therapists and registered play
therapists supervisor credentials and
the many peer networking opportunities
inherent in a PT programs activities and
online listservs and member directories
with change a constant it is absolutely
essential as play therapists that we
continuously stay current in an effort
to provide our clients with the highest
standards of care in our field
that's why play therapist continue to
discuss the latest research and other
information regarding best practices
with colleagues within the play therapy
community provided by the Association
for play therapy play therapy is
regarded by parents health care
providers and insurers as an important
treatment modality and utilize daily
throughout the United States and more
than 30 other countries I've seen
children grow and learn about themselves
and in
they can't change the story but they can
change their view about themself in the
story and gain your power play therapy
is a valuable credible professional
therapeutic discipline that is
developmentally sensitive in meeting the
clients needs especially if the client
is a young child because young
children's natural way of communication
is play the bottom line is play therapy
works for additional information about
practicing teaching supervising or
researching play therapy contact the
association for play therapy or visit
its website WWF or PT org
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