SUE GASCOYNE PLAY THERAPY

AN INTRODUCTION TO PLAY THERAPY

The interests of the children, families, organisations and communities that we support and work with are at the centre of everything we do, and this is particularly important during these challenging times.

With this in mind, we wanted to reassure you that we have put in place a number of robust measures designed to make health and safety a top priority, whilst still ensuring that we can best meet children, families, carers, school’s and social service’s needs. We take our responsibility for safety extremely seriously so are following Government guidelines on Covid-19. Safety has always been at the heart of everything that we do, so a precautionary deep clean has been carried out in our therapy space in readiness for when lockdown restrictions are lifted. We’ve also been busy adding new features to out outdoor therapy space, like the new woodland walkway, designed to support children’s processing of recent changes.

We’re still able to provide support for schools, pastoral teams, foster carers, social services, families and children at this challenging time and can stay connected via Zoom, Skype, email and other social media platforms. Email sue@playtoz.co.uk if you need help and advice on your child’s emotional wellbeing in lockdown and check out my blog for tips, techniques and activity ideas for you to try at home or school.

Play therapy is a creative play-based approach for helping children and adolescents who are experiencing trauma, attachment, behavioral and emotional difficulties. Using play, children's natural form of communication, enables clients to explore issues creatively. The therapist supports the child to gain a better understanding of their feelings and find new ways of expressing their emotions.

Play therapy is a great tool for building resilience, coping with and resolving difficulties. It supports children with an array of problems including: undergoing change (due to class transitions, a new sibling or family separation);  dealing with trauma and abuse; making better behavioral choices; improving self-esteem and increasing confidence; supporting self-regulation; self-harming, bullying and friendship issues. 

The therapist creates a safe environment in which the client can explore and ‘play out’ feelings and problems, working through issues at their own speed without judgement.