Does anyone know anything about play therapy?

[cheeseisthebest]

Who's it for? What do they do? Does it help children?

Thank you

My DC had play therapy through a bereavement charity after her dad died very suddenly , but I know play therapists help children with all sorts of other things, not just bereavement. My DC was 7 when she went, and I don’t think she really knew why she was there. She thought she went to see S each week to play games and do art, and she really enjoyed it, but somehow she was helped to process what had happened and how she felt through the playing. I don’t really know how it works but it did. I think she was allowed to choose what she did and what she played with in the sessions but the therapist somehow, without her noticing, turned it into a therapeutic activity. I have photos of some of the things she did through play to represent what had happened, which I was given after her last session.

Thank you and I'm so sorry for your loss.

When done by a decent therapist, play therapy can help people, especially children, work through some difficult emotions or experiences, without having to verbalise these using emotive or fully developed linguistic skills.

Thank you