Ali Stevens Mains-Play Therapist

10/10/2025

27/08/2025

Bullying can come in different forms and can often be hard to spot. The distress of bullying may present in changes in your child, subtle changes such as hyper-vigilance, anxiety, avoiding certain settings, somatic feelings, reduced self esteem and friendship troubles.

Play therapy can help children process painful feelings that come from the distress of being bullied. Strong feelings of anger, shame and humiliation can be safely expressed and explored as children move to playing out scenarios where they are assertive, confident, powerful and boundaried in reacting to the bullying.

Play therapy can also support the child who is actively bullying Giving them a safe space to express feelings of anger and revenge as they explore the experiences that drive them to bully others. This helps the need to bully diminish and allows them to start playing out different ways of being in social relationships, practicing new ways of feeling and acting that they can take into the real world.

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18/08/2025

14/07/2025

Parents and carers are often key to observing changing behaviours of their children as they know them best. They can see what may be out of character or what may be unusual behaviour. The question we can ask ourselves is what is behind this and how can we help. Early recognition, if there is a known problem, worry or emotional struggle and search for support can be valuable to them and you, as parents/carers.

29/06/2025

Play Therapy sessions with me in East Linton will resume in August. Have a wonderful summer!

17/05/2025

Emotional regulation is the term used for our ability to manage feelings and responses to situations.

When children are able to do this, they can maintain equilibrium within their nervous systems, subsequently they are able to comply with instructions, make and maintain friendships and respond to situations in a way that is considered to be socially appropriate.

Often, when children come to play therapy, this skill is underdeveloped. This can be for many reasons:

- trauma
- developmental stage
- neurodivergence

The ability to emotionally regulate is a skill that is essential to be part of a community. If a child is unable to regulate their emotions, they can be ostracised and made to feel as if something is wrong with them, even though sometimes they are not in control when this dysregulation occurs.

Through the play therapy relationship with their therapist, children learn to tolerate these big feelings and learn coping mechanisms to deal with these moments of dysregulation.

At the end of their play therapy journey, children are more able to regulate their emotions and are more readily accepted into their communities.

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03/05/2025

02/05/2025

As BAPT Registered Play Therapists®, we are trained to understand the whole child — their development, emotions, relationships and experiences. We create a safe space where children can express what’s on their minds in the way that comes most naturally to them: through play.

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02/05/2025

Trusting the Process—Letting go of a timeline for a child in therapy 🦋 As play therapists, we often begin the journey with a vision—an idea of how long the process will take and what progress might look like.

And sometimes? Our timelines are realistic. But often? They’re not.

Because the reality is—we are not in charge of how long it takes for a child to integrate what they’re working through.

Our role isn’t to control the process or rush the outcome. Our role is to join them in the journey.

When we begin working with a child, we don’t yet know:

🔹 How many layers there are to process
🔹 What new challenges might arise along the way
🔹 How their system will unfold and integrate at its own pace

It’s common to think, This will take X number of sessions—only to realize that what seemed like one challenge is connected to a much deeper system of experiences. Or that life throws in a new curveball mid-process.

This is why realistic expectations matter.

✨ Clients go as fast as they need to go.
✨ Clients go as fast as they can go.

And our job? To hold space for that. To support, witness, and trust their unique timing as they move toward what they need to integrate.

When working with parents and caregivers, part of our role is to communicate the evolving nature of the process. If we discover deeper layers, we help them understand where we are and what’s unfolding.

Sometimes, they are the ones needing support. Sometimes, they are struggling with their own expectations. A gentle reminder that healing is a journey, not a destination, can help shift their perspective.

So the next time you feel the pull to measure progress against a timeline, take a breath and remind yourself:

We don’t know how long it will take—we only have guesses when we begin.

And that’s okay.

Much love on the journey,
♡ Lisa

02/05/2025

Welcome to the playroom!

07/03/2025

❤️💚❤️