Benefits Of Play Therapy For Children

Introduction

Children love to play. Play helps children to express themselves. Children are not able to communicate like adults do but they love telling tales with their toys.

Children’s emotional needs are not always obvious. Good mental health is essential for children to think clearly and to develop new skills.

Play therapy is a form of psychotherapy¹ that uses play to help children deal with their emotions and mental health issues. Through play, they express their thoughts and feelings so that the therapist gets insight into their deep emotions.

Understanding play therapy

Play is the language of children and toys are their words. In play therapy, a child is supported to play. Play as a therapy works well for children because they are able to connect and express themselves easily. Play therapy is d carried out appropriately according to the child's age. Through play therapy, an adult is able to reach into the inner world of the child. It is suitable for understanding the mental health struggles and difficulties a child has. The majority of children who have play therapy are between 3 and 12 years of age.

Play therapy can be used to treat children in different situations:² 

• Experience of physical or emotional trauma
•  Preparation for major surgery
• Sleeping or eating disorders
• Anxiety, fear or sadness
• Reading or learning difficulties
• Impulsiveness or aggression
• Experience of physical, emotional or sexual abuse
• Witnessing conflict or 
• Experience of being bullied
•  Severe punishment by teachers 
• Autism or ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder)
• Witnessing domestic violence 
• Witnessing natural calamities
•  Behaviour or conduct issues
• Experience significant life changes (loss of parents, parents’ divorce,r separation from family)
• Difficulty in reaching developmental milestones
• Difficulty in coping with their immediate environment

Why play therapy?

Children, unlike adults, are often not able to express their feelings to the outside world through words. Play therapy helps a child to socialise and communicate.

During play therapy, a child is taken into a playroom with appropriate toys and given freedom to play. Play can be serious or fun, but it is always the child's choice. Children are often interested in playing with dolls’ houses or sand. Through toys, they are able to speak about their experiences.

How does play therapy work?

Play therapy sessions can vary between weekly or biweekly sessions.³ Play therapy takes place in a playroom full of toys such as dolls, dolls’ houses, sandpits, crayons miniatures. The session can be 30 minutes to one hour long. The number of sessions depends on several factors, including the severity of the problem and how well the child responds.

The child is free to explore the playroom and pick toys of his or her choice. Children then use these toys to convey their experiences. By communicating their inner emotions and trauma through toys, children are able to release tension, and so play therapy helps with healing.

The therapist observes how the child interacts and communicates during play and supports the child during the session. The therapist also interprets the child's play and asks them questions about their thoughts. The therapist builds a bond with the child, gains insight into the child's inner world and helps the child to develop coping skills.

Therapists also regularly update parents about the progress of their child. Therapy can be short-term or long-term according to the child’s condition and their response to therapy.

 Play therapy techniques:³

• Creative visualisation
• Storytelling, role-playing
• Toys that help in learning hand skills (toys with sounds, lights)
• Masks, dolls, toy phones, puppets, stuffed animals and action figures
• Arts and crafts
• Water and sand play
• Puzzles, blocks and construction toys
• Musical play, dance and creative movement
• Construction toys (lego blocks, puzzles)
• Mimetic play
• Exploration play
• Play with rules (sports)

Stages of play therapy

There are four stages of play therapy:⁴

• Initiation/exploratory stage: the duration of this stage depends on the personality of the child

The child gets to know the playroom and toys and also develops a bond with the therapist.

Resistance phase/negative reaction/aggressive stage: the duration of this stage is from a few sessions to a few months.

Children may show resistance to therapy in this phase and may no longer want to attend sessions. The therapist encourages the child to keep going even though it feels difficult. They also help the child to express emotions.

Growing phase/ work phase: this is the longest phase when the therapist helps the child address and understand his/her difficulties and find ways to overcome them. The child learns coping skills and shows significant advances during this phase.

• Termination phase: the frequency of sessions is decreased to once a month

The therapist sees if the child can maintain their progress with less support, and also ensures that they are demonstrating new skills with ease. This phase is difficult for the child because they feel the secure relationship with the therapist diminishing.

Types of play therapy techniques 

There are two basic types of play therapy,non-directive and directive:⁶

Non-directive play therapy 

This is unstructured play therapy. Children are given the chance to speak and play freely in appropriate therapeutic conditions.

Therapists prefer to use toys that can be used for imaginative play.

An example of non-directive play therapy is sand play, which involves sandpits and miniatures. The child's unconscious mind creates scenes in the sand. During this time the therapist observes and does not interrupt.

Directive play therapy 

This is structured play therapy. The therapist directs the mind of the child and uses techniques to engage them. The therapist also keeps suggesting topics to the child. Children are given character profiles while playing with dolls.

An example is directed sandpit therapy, where the therapist keeps asking the child questions, prompting them to elaborate on the miniatures they chose for the sandpit.

Benefits of play therapy

• Developmental benefits: play has positive effects on a child's brain and also plays a vital role in the development of children
• Communication benefits: play encourages communication and can help children develop their speech and listening skills. Play therapy helps children to build inner confidence and also helps them to connect more with people⁷
• Therapeutic benefits: play therapy gives children opportunities for creative expression and helps them expressstress in their daily life eg anxiety, school difficulties and family conflicts. It can also promote healing⁸
• Creative benefits: play ignites children’s imaginations and increases their ability to find creative solutions to problems. It also helps to increase focus and prevents distractions
• Emotional benefits: through social play, children learn to experience and express emotions and acquire respect for the thoughts and feelings of others. They make friends through social play and learn responsibility, including responsibility for their behaviour

Effectiveness of play therapy

In a study on the stress levels of the teacher-student relationship in child-centred play therapy, it was found that play therapy sessions significantly decreased the stress levels of both teachers and students.¹

Children with behaviour problems in the classroom have been shown to respond to play therapy, with increased belief in themselves and more confidence in their abilities. Children who could not complete their homework and had behaviour issues, also had a reduction in problematic behaviours.¹

Children with speech difficulties were found to have a great improvement in their speech-related skills.¹

A reduction in anxiety and fear resulting from hospitalisation was also confirmed by a recent survey conducted in Hong Kong.¹

In children with ADHD, benefits were seen in the areas of anxiety, withdrawal and learning difficulty after 16 sessions of play therapy.1

Play therapy for children with chronic illnesses resulted in a reduction in anxiety and a decrease in overall behavioural difficulties.¹

Play therapy also provides a safe environment for children with autism and enables them to learn appropriate behaviours and decrease aggressive or destructive behaviours.⁵

The need for play therapy is higher in children receiving palliative care and, for children suffering from a terminal disease, it may create an atmosphere where they can develop a sense of control of the situation; they will have the chance to handle their lives in their own way, and will be able to externalise their fears and feelings.⁹

All types of play therapy have benefits in reducing psychosocial problems and physical issues, such as pain and fatigue, in children with leukaemia.¹⁰

Limitations of play therapy

• Play therapy is largely dependent on the therapist’s skills. A therapist who can devote their time and attention to children is essential for play therapy
• Play is therapeutic for children, but play therapy shows mixed results¹¹
• Play therapy is a long process

Summary

Play therapy is a great way of helping children to communicate. Children have the freedom to express what is happening in their lives with their favourite things, toys. Play therapy has been shown to have a therapeutic effect and is very effective in helping children let go of their worries.¹² In the playroom, children can communicate through their imaginations. Over time, the therapist can connect fantasy and reality through the developmentally appropriate medium of play, and help make things better for children and to empower them.