Most adults can reflect on their childhood and specific memories when their play brought joy and excitement to their life. A person might recall a specific toy or stuffed animal that brought a great deal of comfort. A game or pretend world in which they would continually get lost. Play is an act of great complexity. On the surface, it can be seen as a way to stave off boredom—an act meant only for enjoyment, with little practical purpose. But when examined more closely, play can have a great deal more meaning. Play is an essential part of a child’s development. When looking at it with a closer lens, you may see the act of play as a way for children to practice scenarios that they may be processing, to exert control over a created environment when they have minimal control in their own reality, or a way to explore and rehearse behaviors that a child may be unsure about. Play therapy is an evidence-based therapeutic intervention that meets the child where they are at using play as the main form of communication. Because children can often lack the cognitive, verbal, or emotional skills to articulate complex feelings, play becomes their natural language. Through the language of play, a child can express thoughts, experiences, and emotions that might otherwise remain unspoken. The environment of a play therapy playroom is very thought-out and intentional. Structured games and activities can often help build up trust between the child and their therapist. However, the play therapy room—filled with open-ended items and experiences—is meant to be a non-directive space in which the child can be driven by their own internal emotional needs and curiosities.
The play therapy experience provides a safe, predictable, steady and accepting environment in which the child leads the play, while the therapist reflects emotions, sets gentle limits when needed, and helps the child build emotional awareness and self-regulation. The play therapy process allows a child to freely experience emotions, feelings and thoughts in a non-directive and non-judgmental environment. Play can also serve as a buffer after a child has experienced trauma or an experience that feels unsafe. Through play the child can access uncomfortable feelings, act out scenarios, process what was seen or experienced, and communicate their needs through external action, lightening the direct burden of their internal emotional experience. By providing a grounded, predictable, and steady environment for a child to explore their emotions through their language of play, I have witnessed children becoming more rooted in their knowledge of who they are, what they feel, and how they can respond to the world around them. With this knowledge, children and their families can gain trust in themselves, each other, and move towards greater emotional regulation, resilience, and an integrated sense of self-understanding. As a resident therapist at Samaritan Center, I have been able to follow my own personal interest in the therapeutic use of play and am currently in the process of becoming a registered play therapist. Through the act of play I have been able to gain a clearer understanding of a child’s internal world and emotions and use that knowledge to help the child and their family better understand each other and learn to work better as a unit.
By Dara Hager, Resident Therapist
