Willow Way Therapy

07/01/2026

🪖 Toolkit Spotlight: Military Figures

Toy soldiers are often chosen in play therapy sessions. They can open the door to exploring important themes for children in a way that feels safe and secure.

Through this type of play play, children may explore:
• Good vs. bad and right vs. wrong
• Conflict, power, and control
• Winning, losing, and fairness
• Rules, authority, and boundaries
• Fear, safety, injury, and death
• Protection, loyalty, and survival

Battles, alliances, and missions can reflect a child’s inner world, relationships, or experiences of stress and uncertainty.

Army toys offer a powerful symbolic language when words are hard to find. 👍

06/01/2026

Happy New Year! 🥳

I hope you had lots of happy moments during the festive season! 😍

I’m back to solo dog walks now that my children are back at school, and I’ll be easing myself gently back into sessions with clients next week.

January can be a tricky time to get back into the swing of things, and our little ones can find this difficult too. So try to take the pressure off them (and yourself!) and offer plenty of opportunities for movement, time in nature, and hugs in abundance. 🤍🐾🌿

21/12/2025

Happy Winter Solstice - the longest of nights, and shortest of days. The pause in the wheel as the sun stands still before the light begins to return.

It is a magical night. A symbolic reminder that even in the depth of Winter the light of our souls still shines. Hope never fades.

So pause and reflect.
Light a candle, take a breath, and ask yourself:
What am I ready to leave behind?
What do I want to grow in the months ahead?

Feel the light within you burning steadily.

May your home be warm, your heart steady and your next season gently begin.

Blessed Yule Greetings from my house to yours.
With love
Fiona
www.earthmonk.guru

20/12/2025

Wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas 🎄✨🧑‍🎄

May it be magical and stress-free!

And if it isn’t, please remember: your needs matter too.
Be gentle with yourself in the chaos 🤍

19/12/2025

18/12/2025

One for the over thinkers this Christmas- myself included! 🎄😍 🎅

17/12/2025

When we’re scared, it’s natural to want to avoid whatever is making us fearful. However, avoidance can keep fear feeling big and we can remain stuck in a cycle.

When we move towards fear safely, with someone we trust, it often doesn’t feel as scary.

In play therapy, we explore fears and worries through words, play, music, and art, helping children remember they can be brave and do hard things.

HelpingWithAnxiety

16/12/2025

Today I used creativity in my supervision session to reflect on the gifts that being a play therapist has brought me over the last year. It reminded me how important it is to slow down and really notice the learning along the way.

As a PTUK play therapist, I have 1.5 hours of supervision every month. This protected space allows me to reflect on my work, explore my client relationships, and ensure I continue to offer safe, ethical, and thoughtful practice. 🌱”

15/12/2025

Watching this swan enjoying the water on my morning walk reminded me of the power of symbolism. 🦢

Swans often represent grace, transformation, and deep inner strength, often calm on the surface, but with so much happening beneath. 💪

In play therapy, symbolism is an important part of our work. When words are hard to find, play, creativity, symbols and movement become the language.

13/12/2025

When we feel a child is doing something “just to get attention,”
the response is simple:
let’s give them some attention.

Because attention isn’t a flaw.
It’s a basic human need.

It’s how children say, “I’m overwhelmed,”
“I need connection,”
or “I don’t know how to hold this alone.”

We forget that adults seek attention too —
we just do it in more socially acceptable ways.
We call a friend, vent, ask for support, lean on someone.

Children ask in the only ways they know how.

So instead of labelling the behaviour as manipulation, we can choose to see it as communication.

A bid for closeness.
A signal that something inside them needs anchoring.

Attention doesn’t spoil a child. Disconnection does. Meeting their need now teaches them how to ask for help later…

With words instead of outbursts,
with trust instead of fear,
with openness instead of shame.

If a child is asking for attention, the most loving thing we can do is notice and draw them closer. ❤️

Quote Credit: ❣️

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13/12/2025

Just as you are just as you’ve always been 🤍✨

A little honesty here, I’ve been struggling a lot with my brain recently, 2025 hasnt been an easy ride for my health. My brain begins to run away with itself, tell me sneaky thoughts I shouldn’t let in. I know this is just a moment and it too shall pass, I guess sharing this incase anyone else brain has run away from them. You are and always will be enough, everything you’ve been through has shaped you into the beautiful soul you are.

And if no one’s told you yet today, you are loved more than you will ever know ###x