So, What Is Play Therapy? Understanding How It Can Help Children With Big Emotions and Anxiety
If your child is experiencing big emotions, anxiety, worries, changes in behaviour or difficulties around school, you may have heard of Play Therapy and wondered whether it could help.
You may also have questions about what Play Therapy actually involves. What happens during a session? Does your child have to talk about what is worrying them? Do they simply play with toys? And how can playing possibly help a child who is experiencing anxiety or difficult emotions?
These are all understandable questions.
At Silent Stories, Play Therapy is a child-led therapeutic approach that provides children and young people with a safe and supportive space to explore their experiences in a way that feels natural to them. One of the important things for parents and carers to understand is that children do not have to talk before they are ready.
So, what is Play Therapy?
Play Therapy uses children's natural way of communicating, through play, within a therapeutic relationship. While adults often use conversation to explain how they feel or talk about difficult experiences, children do not always have the words, understanding or confidence to do this.
Play can provide another way for a child to communicate.
At Silent Stories, the Play Therapy environment includes a range of carefully selected toys, creative materials and activities that allow children to explore in different ways. The child is given the opportunity to choose how they engage, while the therapist provides a safe, accepting and supportive therapeutic relationship.
This doesn't mean that a therapist simply watches a child play. Play Therapy is a therapeutic process, and the relationship between the child and therapist is an important part of that process. The therapist follows the child's lead while providing a safe environment in which the child can explore experiences and emotions at their own pace.
Why is play important?
Play is a natural part of childhood. Children use play to explore their world, develop relationships, make sense of experiences and express themselves.
When something is difficult, however, children don't always know how to explain what they are experiencing. A child may know that something doesn't feel right without being able to tell an adult exactly why. They may not understand their own emotions yet, or they may simply not feel ready to talk about them.
This is where Play Therapy can offer something different.
Rather than asking a child to sit down and explain what is wrong, the therapeutic environment gives them another way to communicate. Through imaginative play, creative activities, stories, role play and other forms of expression, a child can explore experiences that may be difficult to put into words.
At Silent Stories, children are given the time and space to do this at their own pace. There is no expectation that they arrive knowing what they need to say or how they should express themselves.
What happens during a Play Therapy session?
Parents often wonder what their child will actually do when they attend Play Therapy. There isn't one particular activity that every child will be expected to complete, because each child is different and the sessions are child-led.
A child may choose to play imaginatively, use figures, create something, build, draw, explore sensory materials or engage with other resources available within the therapeutic environment. What they choose to do can change from session to session.
The therapist's role is not to tell the child how they should play. Instead, they provide the therapeutic relationship and environment while taking the child's lead.
This can be particularly meaningful for children who feel that much of their everyday life is directed by adults. At school, at home and in other settings, they may frequently be told what they need to do, where they need to be and how they should behave. Play Therapy provides a different kind of space where they can make choices and experience a sense of control within appropriate therapeutic boundaries.
At Silent Stories, this child-led approach is central to the way Play Therapy is offered. The intention is to create a space where children can feel safe enough to explore rather than feeling that they are being asked to provide the right answers.
How can Play Therapy help with big emotions?
Children experience big emotions just as adults do, but they don't always have the words or skills to understand and communicate what is happening for them.
A child may become angry or frustrated more frequently, cry more often, withdraw from others or become overwhelmed by situations that previously seemed manageable. Parents can sometimes feel as though they are constantly responding to the next emotional reaction without understanding what is sitting underneath it.
Play Therapy can provide a space where a child can explore their emotional experiences within a safe therapeutic relationship. At Silent Stories, the focus isn't simply on asking a child to stop being angry, calm down or change their behaviour. Instead, there is an opportunity for the child to explore their experiences in a way that feels accessible to them.
Over time, this can provide opportunities for children to develop their own ways of expressing and managing difficult emotions. Every child is different, so the way they engage with the therapeutic process will also be different.
Anxiety can present differently from one child to another. For some children, it may involve worries about school, separation, friendships or particular situations. For others, anxiety may show itself through withdrawal, emotional reactions, avoidance, physical complaints or changes in behaviour. Sometimes a child knows that they are worried but cannot explain exactly what they are worried about.
At Silent Stories, Play Therapy can provide children with an opportunity to explore these experiences and feelings without requiring them to sit down and talk about their worries. Through play and the therapeutic relationship, they can begin to communicate and explore what they are experiencing at a pace that feels manageable.
This can be particularly relevant when anxiety starts to affect everyday life, such as getting ready for school, separating from a parent, sleeping, making or maintaining friendships, or taking part in activities they would normally enjoy.
What if my child doesn't want to talk?
One of the things that can reassure parents about Play Therapy is that their child isn't expected to arrive at their first session and explain what is wrong.
At Silent Stories, children are given time to become familiar with the therapeutic environment and develop a relationship with the therapist. They can engage with the space in their own way and at their own pace.
A child may communicate through play before they are able to communicate through words. Over time, they may become more comfortable showing or talking about their experiences, but there is no expectation that this needs to happen with words.
Sometimes the first step is simply helping a child feel safe enough to be themselves.
Play Therapy isn't only for very young children. Play remains an important way of communicating throughout childhood, although the way a child chooses to engage will naturally change as they grow and develop.
At Silent Stories, Play Therapy is available for children and young people aged 3–18. The approach is adapted to the individual child, taking account of their age, development, interests and experiences.
A younger child may naturally communicate through imaginative play, while an older child or young person may engage with creative activities, storytelling, role play or other forms of expression. The important thing is that the therapeutic approach allows space for the individual child rather than expecting every child to respond in exactly the same way.
What does child-led Play Therapy mean?
The phrase "child-led" is central to understanding how Play Therapy works at Silent Stories.
It means that the child is given opportunities to make choices within the therapeutic environment and to lead the direction of their therapy session. The therapist provides the structure, safety and therapeutic relationship while allowing the child to explore in a way that feels appropriate for them.
This can be particularly valuable for children who may feel that they have little control over other areas of their lives. They may be managing expectations at school, difficulties with friendships, changes at home or situations that feel outside their control.
Having a therapeutic space where their choices are respected can help them feel heard and supported.
Being child-led does not mean that there are no boundaries. A safe therapeutic environment still has appropriate boundaries and limits. It means that the child's experiences and needs are heard, be it verbally or non-verbally, rather than expecting them to fit a predetermined way of doing therapy. Silent Stories looks beyond behaviour.
One of the reasons parents may consider Play Therapy is because something about their child's behaviour has changed.
Perhaps their child is becoming more withdrawn, having more emotional outbursts, refusing school, struggling with friendships, anxiety or finding everyday situations increasingly difficult.
It can be tempting to focus on the behaviour itself and ask, "How do I stop this?"
Play Therapy offers an opportunity to become curious about what may be happening underneath.
At Silent Stories, children are not defined by the behaviour that adults may find difficult. Instead, the therapeutic space provides an opportunity to consider the experiences, emotions and difficulties that may be contributing to what a child is showing us.
This doesn't mean that boundaries aren't important or that every behaviour has the same explanation. It means taking the time to see the whole child.
At Silent Stories, I provide a safe, supportive and child-led Play Therapy environment for children and young people aged 3–18.
Children may come to Play Therapy for many different reasons. They may be experiencing anxiety, school difficulties, separation worries, big emotions, friendship problems, family changes, illness, neurodiverse challenges, bereavement, changes in behaviour or another experience that they are finding difficult to manage.
The starting point isn't necessarily having a clear explanation of what is wrong. Sometimes parents simply know that something has changed and that their child doesn't seem quite themselves.
The initial process provides an opportunity to talk through what you have noticed and consider whether Play Therapy may be appropriate. If we move forward, the therapeutic sessions give your child a safe space where they can explore their experiences without being expected to have all the answers or explain everything straight away.
Our role is to provide the therapeutic relationship, environment and support while allowing your child to communicate and explore in a way that feels natural to them.
They don't have to have the words. They don't have to know exactly what is wrong. And they don't have to be ready to talk about anything.
Sometimes, giving a child the time, space and safety to communicate in their own way can be an important first step.
If you're wondering whether Play Therapy could be appropriate for your child, you don't need to have everything worked out before getting in touch.
🌿 Silent Stories supports children and young people aged 3–18 across Inverclyde, Renfrewshire, West Dunbartonshire, East Dunbartonshire, South Glasgow and surrounding areas.
Find out more about Play Therapy:https://www.silentstories.co.uk/play-therapy
Or get in touch with Silent Stories: hello@silentstories.co.uk
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