CHILD THERAPY

 

“Birds fly. Fish swim. Children play.” — Dr. Garry Landreth

Unlike adults, whose natural medium of communication is verbalization, the natural medium of communication for children is play. Children's feelings and experiences are often inaccessible at a verbal level. They have not yet developed the words, language, and cognitive ability to discuss and express what we are asking them through questions. Play is to the child what talking is to the adult, a way to express and communicate. Play therapy can help a child better express their complex thoughts and feelings. Play therapy has been found to be an effective treatment for children experiencing a wide variety of problems including, but not limited to, grief, divorce, abuse, violence, trauma, illness, defiance, academic struggles, hyperactivity, inattention, poor self concept, shyness, anxiety, depression, anger and aggression.

 

When engaged in play therapy with me, your child will have the opportunity to interact with a therapist, trained specifically in play therapy procedures from the largest play therapy training program in the world.I will provide specific play materials to help your child fully express and explore themselves. In turn, the play therapy process can help reduce your child's problematic behaviors, improve their emotional adjustment to life stressors, decrease emotional and academic problems, increase social skills, improve problem-solving skills and alleviate symptoms such as anxiety, depression, anger, aggression and inattention/hyperactivity. A video published by the Association for Play Therapy, entitled “Introducing Andrew,” (click here to watch) is a comical, yet informative depiction of children's communication style and effective therapeutic treatment. To learn more about play therapy, visit www.a4pt.org (click here to visit this site).