• About Us
    • FAQs
    • Interview with Dr. Allison Sibley
  • New! Mental Health Consultations
  • Our Services
    • New! Mental Health Consultations
    • Adult Therapy
    • Child Therapies
    • Teen Therapy
    • Couples Counseling and Therapy
    • Family Therapy
    • Group therapy for children
    • Group therapy for teens and adolescents
  • Therapists
    • Allison Sibley, PHD, LICSW, RPT-S
    • Cristina Alba, MSW, LGSW
    • Justin Barrasso, MS, LPC, NCC
    • Danielle Birx-Raybuck, LICSW, LCSW-C
    • Alexander Chan, PhD, LMFT
    • Kristin Drouin, MSW, LCSW, LICSW, APHSW-C
    • Amanda Good, MSW, LICSW, EMDR-C
    • Jules Hartsfeld, LPC, LCAS, CCTP
    • Alexis Herschthal, MSW, LICSW
    • Sarah Jones, LICSW, LCSW-C
    • Meagan Mitchell, MSW, LICSW, MEd
    • Sarah Perrin, MSW, LGSW
    • Michelle Pittman, MSW, LICSW
    • Georgette Saad, MSW, LICSW
    • Rachel Scharf, MSW, LGSW
    • Lori Seifter, Consulting Supervisor
    • Barry Shapiro, MSW, LICSW
    • Laurel Tobias, MSW, LICSW
    • Lottie Walker, MSW, LGSW, CSE
    • Rachel Yutzy, MSS, LICSW
  • Blog
  • Contact Us
    • Hours & Location
    • Payment & Forms
    • Assistant to the Director – Sherri Eichberg
  • Home
  • About Us »
    • FAQs »
    • Interview with Dr. Allison Sibley »
  • New! Mental Health Consultations »
  • Our Services »
    • New! Mental Health Consultations »
    • Adult Therapy »
    • Child Therapies »
    • Teen Therapy »
    • Couples Counseling and Therapy »
    • Family Therapy »
    • Group therapy for children »
    • Group therapy for teens and adolescents »
  • Therapists »
    • Allison Sibley, PHD, LICSW, RPT-S »
    • Cristina Alba, MSW, LGSW »
    • Justin Barrasso, MS, LPC, NCC »
    • Danielle Birx-Raybuck, LICSW, LCSW-C »
    • Alexander Chan, PhD, LMFT »
    • Kristin Drouin, MSW, LCSW, LICSW, APHSW-C »
    • Amanda Good, MSW, LICSW, EMDR-C »
    • Jules Hartsfeld, LPC, LCAS, CCTP »
    • Alexis Herschthal, MSW, LICSW »
    • Sarah Jones, LICSW, LCSW-C »
    • Meagan Mitchell, MSW, LICSW, MEd »
    • Sarah Perrin, MSW, LGSW »
    • Michelle Pittman, MSW, LICSW »
    • Georgette Saad, MSW, LICSW »
    • Rachel Scharf, MSW, LGSW »
    • Lori Seifter, Consulting Supervisor »
    • Barry Shapiro, MSW, LICSW »
    • Laurel Tobias, MSW, LICSW »
    • Lottie Walker, MSW, LGSW, CSE »
    • Rachel Yutzy, MSS, LICSW »
  • Blog »
  • Contact Us »
    • Hours & Location »
    • Payment & Forms »
    • Assistant to the Director – Sherri Eichberg »
  • Home »
 
facebook

Capitol Hill office is now open!

Schedule an appointment at intake@thesibleygroupdc.com
  • Recent Posts

    • The Truth about Therapy
    • Why Validation Matters
    • You’ve Heard of Post-Traumatic Stress… but What About Post-Traumatic Growth?
    • Understanding Childhood Grief in the Holidays 
    • The Parent as the Pathway to Healing
  • Archives

    • March 2023
    • January 2023
    • December 2022
    • November 2022
    • October 2022
    • August 2022
    • July 2022
    • June 2022
    • May 2022
    • April 2022
    • March 2022
    • February 2022
    • January 2022
    • December 2021
    • November 2021
    • October 2021
    • September 2021
    • August 2021
    • July 2021
    • May 2021
    • April 2021
    • March 2021
    • February 2021
    • January 2021
    • December 2020
    • November 2020
    • October 2020
    • September 2020
    • August 2020
    • July 2020
    • June 2020
    • May 2020
    • April 2020
    • March 2020
    • February 2020
    • January 2020
    • December 2019
    • November 2019
    • October 2019
    • September 2019
    • August 2019
    • July 2019
    • June 2019
    • May 2019
    • April 2019
    • March 2019
    • February 2019
    • January 2019
    • December 2018
    • October 2018
    • September 2018
    • August 2018
    • July 2018
    • June 2018
    • May 2018
    • April 2018
    • March 2018
    • February 2018
    • January 2018
    • December 2017
    • November 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
    • August 2017
    • July 2017
    • June 2017
    • May 2017
    • April 2017
    • March 2017
    • January 2017
    • December 2016
    • November 2016
    • October 2016
    • September 2016
    • August 2016
    • July 2016
    • June 2016
    • May 2016
  • Categories

    • ADHD
    • Adult Psychotherapy
    • Anxiety
    • Bethesda Psychotherapist
    • Child Counseling
    • Child therapy
    • Coping Skills
    • Couples Therapy
    • DC Psychotherapist
    • Depression
    • Divorce
    • Family Therapy
    • Mindfulness
    • Parenting
    • Self-care
    • Uncategorized
    • Washington

Why Play Therapy?

Posted by Laurel Tobias

 

children playing during a play therapy session

 

Why play? Parents hear the term ‘play therapy’ as a recommendation from physicians and mental health professionals all the time…but how can play be therapeutic?

Parents, this is an incredibly appropriate question to ask your provider and it makes sense that you want to know how investing time and money to see your little one play in a therapy room is going to benefit your child and your family. 

Allow me a few minutes to break it down for you: there are many different styles of play therapy and therapists often choose what is most appropriate based on your child’s age, stage of development, and the concerns/goals you have as a family. Some involve directive work (therapist providing child with structured activities to target specific goals) and some nondirective (child chooses the game/activity and therapist rolls with it), however within these two categories is a vast spectrum of different styles and interventions. I want to focus here on one of the most well-known of the nondirective therapy modalities, or Child-Centered Play Therapy, as I often find this modality feels elusive and mysterious to parents. It is typically used with children between the ages of 3-7 but can be used along with other modalities or by itself for kids up to age 11.

Ok, here we go: Child Centered Play Therapy [CCPT}. Toys are very carefully chosen for the play space- in the therapy rooms you’ll often see dolls, doll houses, sand trays, doctor’s kits, costumes, swords, toy kitchens, superhero and animal figurines, the works! Toys like these are chosen for the play space to encourage children to process and project different themes.  Aside from safety boundaries that the therapist will set if needed, kids are free to use whichever toys they want in whatever way they desire during the session. Children use toys and games to mirror the experiences they are having in their own worlds and make sense of the experiences they are having; play is the language that children use to process. Allowing kids to lead their own play is similar to allowing adults to bring up their own topics to work on in a therapy session. In CCPT, children direct their sessions and trained therapists know how to intervene to meet therapeutic goals.  

The therapist’s job within this play space, is to provide consistent empathetic reflections in order to build self-awareness, confidence, and understanding in the child. For example, I might have a 5-year-old child who uses the doctor’s kit to check my heartbeat and pretend to be the physician, whose mom is undergoing cancer treatment. I might reflect “You’re curious about the stethoscope- you  see this being used for mommy and sometimes it feels scary. You are using it to check my heartbeat and keep me healthy. It feels good to be the one holding the stethoscope.” 

Reflections and interactions like these offer the child insight and awareness into their own thoughts and feelings, and helps the child connect their behaviors with the sensations and feelings they experience by providing language and narrative to describe it. The reflections are non-judgemental and affirm for the child that they are safe to process and express emotions. Child-centered play therapists offer very little direction and typically rarely even answer questions asked by the child during playtime, in order to support the child to find the solutions themselves and build regulation skills by tuning into their own bodies. Children use the nondirective therapy play space to explore, process distressing emotions, and resolve their issues at their own pace. They learn to recognize, name, and overcome distress through their play and the therapist’s reflections.

What might feel confusing is that Child-Centered Play Therapy does not include the therapist bringing up topics for discussion…which may seem counterintuitive given that so much can happen at home, school, etc. In the play space, the child’s mind is the primary driver of the work and the therapist is there to follow where the child’s brain needs to be. Children often come into the space with an idea of what they want to do and where they want to take the play that day. Talk to your therapist about what type of play they might find appropriate for your child based on their needs- it is such a fun world to be a part of and offers such a shift in your child’s perspective, confidence, and ability for self-regulation! 

 

This entry was posted in Child Counseling, Child therapy and tagged CCPT, Child-Centered Play Therapy. Bookmark the permalink.
← Previous Post Next Post →
  • About Us
  • Our Services
  • Hours & Location
  • Payment & Forms
  • Blog
  • Contact Us
  • Home
  • No Surprises Act

Allison Sibley & Associates, PLLC • 5039 Connecticut Avenue NW #5 Washington DC 20008
202-237-1196 [office]

Website by MightyLittleWebShop.com. Photos by Karen Elliott Greisdorf and Amanda Good.

©️ Copyright 2023. The Sibley Group. All rights reserved.

 

favicon

New Service Offerings: Mental Health Consultations

TSG is aware of the high level of need for mental health support and treatment for the families in our community and beyond, and an increasingly short supply of available therapists. We are excited to offer new services with immediate daytime availability: Mental Health Consultations. These appointments are a one-time or brief preventive and/or supportive service for individuals and families who are not engaged in therapy at TSG, yet could benefit from consulting with a mental health expert in a variety of ways. Email intake@thesibleygroupdc.com for more information or to schedule a consultation.

Click here for more information on on our new mental health consultation service.