Play Therapy is for children who have worries or muddles in their heads. Often, children (and older people) have a lot of mixed-up feelings.
It might be that you are unhappy about things you have seen or that have happened to you, or that you have bad dreams or can’t sleep. Maybe you seem to be in trouble a lot, or you don’t feel like talking to people a lot of the time. The play therapist’s job is to help you understand these things better so that you can be in charge, and they can’t hurt you as much. Sometimes it’s hard to talk about your feelings so your play therapist will try to help you feel better without you having to explain things. That’s because children play their feelings better than they talk about them.
What will happen?
Play Therapy happens in a special room where there are toys, games and art things to play with. You will meet your play therapist there at the same time each week for about an hour, and the grown-up who brings you will wait nearby. Your Play Therapy will be in one of these rooms.
Play Therapy time is special time just for you. You will be the only child there. You can choose what you want to do, and you can do more or less anything you like, and say whatever you like, in your sessions.
Who will know about it?
You can tell anybody you like about your sessions, but you don’t have to if you don’t want to. The play sessions are just for you, and your play therapist will not tell anybody what you do or say unless you say it’s OK. BUT if she is worried that you or another child are in danger of being hurt, she will have to tell somebody about that.
Your play therapist will sometimes meet your mum or dad, or the grown-ups you live with, to talk about what things you might need. She will talk to you about this first, and she won’t tell anyone what you have done or said unless you want her to.
There are three Play Therapists at the Apple Tree Centre: Rosie, Jenny and Sarah. You will see the same person every week so that you can get to know each other really well.
