psychotherapy
for children
is based in play



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Psychotherapy with children

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What do children do in psychotherapy?

Children need to play and love to play, and so my work with children in psychotherapy is based in play. In a session I will usually initiate some check-in talk about the child’s current situation, feelings or struggles (with a sibling perhaps, or at school), their fears, their disappointments, their nightmares or funny dreams, their desires, the places they’ve improved, the difficulties they are still having, and a host of other subjects.  This talking time is brief and direct.  Unless the child is already ten or so, these exchanges rarely take up the majority of our time.  So how do I reach your child, and what is the role of play? 
 
Play gives me and the child a way of interacting that is friendly, fun and stress-free.  Through play we create a supportive relationship.  When children, like adults, feel appreciated and accepted by their therapist, it allows them to reflect on their feelings and behavior and reach for change.
 
There are other healing factors at work in playing with a child in games of our own making: play comforts, soothes, and calms.  When a child plays with a therapist, play also provides the child a relaxed opportunity to express her or his self.  In the child’s play, I see what is on the child’s mind. Children communicate their sense of the world, their questions, their preoccupations.  This allows me insight into their behavior and the feelings that motivate their behavior.
 
Equally if not more important to my understanding of your child is the work I do with you.  You, as the parent, are my primary source of information about the child’s difficulties.  You know an enormous amount about your child, and in our work in parent sessions (please see the parent page) you will help me to get a bigger picture of your child to guide my work.  I also use parent sessions to share my insights into your child's thoughts, feelings, and struggles, and their meaning.

Please see the About Me page for more about my qualifications.