We know that adults may come to therapy and “talk” out or through their feelings but what is the experience like for children, as they do not have the complicated vocabulary to express the intensity of emotions they experience.
Some children may be able to correlate experiences in their day with the emotions they are experiencing, but it’s highly unlikely your child will, upon pick up from school, report “Mom, I was really embarrassed when Tony laughed at my Paw Patrol mask, and in my anger I decided to impulsively grab his art project and rip it to relieve the big feelings I felt in that moment”.
More often than not, you would notice something different in your child’s demeanor, behavior or hear your child angrily exclaim “School is the worst!”. What then does it look like for a child to explore their emotional world in therapy, specifically using play?
Play can encompass many things including games, reading books, imaginative play, constructive/building activities, sand tray as well as other expressive arts. While some of these tools may seem simple in nature, research has shown there to be 20 therapeutic powers of play, which can be broken down into four categories.
- Facilitates communication
- Fosters emotional wellness
- Enhances social relationships
- Increases personal strengths
Ultimately, play helps facilitate self-expression, brings about catharsis, enhances relationships and impacts things like self-esteem. Play is a child’s natural language, giving them the freedom to explore emotions, experiences and relationships. Play is familiar and safe to children, and as such enables them to freely express themselves.
In a play therapy setting, there can be safety in projection meaning a doll or car or puppet is the one feeling what the child is feeling. The child can talk about the issue, but also be slightly removed. Being able to express difficult feelings in such a way allows for catharsis or a release of feelings.
What would this look like in session or in practice?
Let’s say a child has had a rough day with a peer at school, such as our example from earlier. First off, there is no one way this would play out. In a non directive setting, meaning the child chooses the activity, the child might choose a puppet and act out a narrative similar to the encounter from school or the child may create a world in the sand tray that represents themes touching on how he felt in the moment.
Where play begins to be therapeutic is the child has access to a way to “tell” what they are feeling using the various means available within the play room.
While the idea of “play” may on the surface appear to be something simple, there are a variety of complex and important things happening within the development of your child, revealing just how powerful and significant play truly is.