Mind Mosaic Child & Family Therapies

28/01/2026

We are delighted to announce that we have received grant funding from The Newark Trust to support the creation of a sensory space and new equipment in one of our existing rooms at our base in Ladyburn for neurodivergent children and young people- ensuring a safe, quiet and comfortable activity space.
Thank you to Claire Stone, the Board of Trustees and all involved in the wonderful Newark Trust for this fabulous opportunity that will be of great benefit to the emotional, developmental and mental health of Inverclyde children and families. ❤️

28/01/2026

The next meeting of the Counsellor Therapist and Family Workers Self Care and Support Forum meets on Monday 16th February from 5.45pm- 7.15pm at Ladyburn Business Centre Pottery Street Greenock.
This forum is a relaxed informal space for network colleagues, professionals and students who work with children, adults and families to meet for an hour or two after work with like minded people and take time out for themselves to unwind from the busy-ness of the day, enjoy a coffee, and share humour😁
New members most welcome!
For more info call 01475 339019 or email: sandra.boyle@mindmosaic.net

26/01/2026

A big welcome to Caris who joins our team this week as an MSc in Developmental Psychology Student on placement from the University of Dundee😁
Caris will be involved with our WEE MINDS groups with babies age 0- 3yrs and their parents, some parent carer workshops and with our Superhero Groups for the coming months.
Welcome Cara! We are confident that you will enjoy your placement with Mind Mosaic Child & Family Therapies and best of luck with your studies! ❤️

22/01/2026

Many thanks to the RS MacDonald Charitable Trust Edinburgh for affording us the opportunity to attend the next part of this wonderful residential course at the Westerwood in Cumbernauld delivered by the Social Enterprise Academy. Coming together again sharing ideas and learning with some of the nicest and most inspiring charity leaders from across Scotland 💫

18/01/2026

❤️

Anna Freud’s words sit at the very heart of play therapy practice.

Children do not always have the language to explain what they feel or why they behave as they do. Instead, their inner world often shows itself through play; in stories, symbols, roles and repetition. Within this play, the unconscious gently finds a voice.

In play therapy, we understand play as a bridge to the unconscious. It is where fears can be expressed safely, wishes can be explored without judgement and experiences can be worked through at the child’s own pace. What may feel confusing or overwhelming internally can be communicated, processed and transformed through play.

By attuning to a child’s play, the play therapist offers containment, curiosity and emotional safety, allowing the unconscious material to emerge naturally rather than be forced into words. This is where healing begins, not by asking children to explain themselves, but by meeting them where they are.

Play is not “just play”.

It is communication, insight and deep emotional work in action.

14/01/2026

Anna Freud used play as a way to:

🧸 Help children feel safe enough to engage in therapy
🧠 Understand their emotional development and coping strategies
💬 Support children to express thoughts and feelings they could not yet put into words

Anna Freud’s work helped establish Play Therapy as a developmentally informed, relational approach, laying foundations that continue to influence modern therapeutic practice across schools, clinics, and family settings.

Play isn’t “just play” — it’s meaningful communication.

And children have been telling us important things through play all along.

12/01/2026

This week we’re exploring the roots of psychodynamic and psychoanalytic play therapy, and one of the most influential figures in this field was Melanie Klein.

Rather than seeing play as “just play,” Klein understood it as meaningful communication. Through observing themes, repetition, and symbolism in play, she believed therapists could gain insight into a child’s emotional experiences and support them to process anxiety, fear, and relationships in a safe, contained way.

Her work laid important foundations for many therapeutic approaches used today and continues to influence how play therapists think about symbolic expression, emotional meaning, and the therapeutic relationship.

✨ Play isn’t an add-on — it’s a child’s voice.

10/01/2026

🙌🏻

This foundational quote captures the very heart of Child-Centred Play Therapy (CCPT).

CCPT is grounded in the belief that children communicate their inner world through play long before they can access words. Rather than directing or interpreting, the therapist offers a safe, accepting and attuned relationship in which the child is free to lead.

Within CCPT:
🧸 Play is meaningful communication
🧸 Behaviour is understood as expression, not defiance
🧸 The child sets the pace and direction
🧸 Healing emerges through relationship, not instruction

Rooted in Axline’s principles, CCPT trusts that when children experience unconditional positive regard, consistency and emotional safety, they naturally move towards growth, integration and emotional regulation.

Within British Association of Play Therapists (BAPT) practice, CCPT remains a core, evidence-based and trauma-informed approach — honouring the child as the expert in their own experience.

💚 Play is not “just play.”
💚 Play is how children tell their story.
💚 Play is the work.

10/01/2026

I will never forget the impact this book had on me many years ago and it was the spark that lit the flame that inspired me to seek out the path to become a Play Therapist and what a journey that followed❤️....

Sandra Boyle
Founder
Mind Mosaic Child and Family Therapies

Her seminal book, Dibs in Search of Self, offers a powerful and compassionate illustration of what happens when a child is met with unconditional acceptance, safety and trust. Through Dibs’ journey, Axline showed the world that children do not need fixing, directing, or correcting – they need to be understood.

Child-Centred Play Therapy rests on key principles demonstrated so clearly in Dibs’ story:
🧸 The child leads; the therapist follows
🧸 Play is the child’s natural language
🧸 Behaviour is communication
🧸 Given the right relational conditions, children move towards healing and growth

Within British Association of Play Therapists (BAPT) practice, these principles remain central. Play Therapy provides a protected relational space where children can explore their inner world, make sense of experiences, and develop a stronger sense of self – at their own pace, in their own way.

Dibs in Search of Self reminds us that profound change does not come from control or instruction, but from relationship, attunement and trust in the child’s innate capacity to heal.

💚 Play is not “just play.”
💚 Play is therapeutic work.
💚 Play is how children tell their story.

06/01/2026

❤️ The child's work.....Virginia Axline - a trailblazer ahead of her time in the 1940s who recognised the therapeutic benefit of specialist play therapy intervention conducive to children's mental health that is supported by neuroscience today....She was also the author of Dibs In Search of the Self- the powerful true account of a young boy's emotional journey through play therapy that is still a classic essential read for student/ trainee therapists today....

Axline believed that children, when offered a safe, accepting and permissive therapeutic space, naturally move towards healing and growth. Her non-directive, child-centred approach gave children permission to communicate their inner world through play – their most natural language – rather than words alone.

Her core principles still sit at the heart of ethical Play Therapy practice today:

🧸 Unconditional positive regard
🧸 Deep respect for the child’s autonomy
🧸 Trust in the child’s innate capacity to heal
🧸 Play as meaningful communication, not “just play”

At British Association of Play Therapists (BAPT), these principles continue to guide evidence-based, trauma-informed practice that supports children to process experiences, build emotional resilience, and develop a stronger sense of self – at their own pace, in their own way.

Axline reminded us that “the child leads, the therapist follows” – a philosophy that remains as powerful and relevant today as it was when she first articulated it.

💚 Play is not an extra.
💚 Play is not a reward.
💚 Play is the work.

05/01/2026

Happy New Year 2026- wishing good health and wellbeing to all.
Mind Mosaic Child & Family Therapies are open for business today from 9am at our base in Ladyburn Business Centre Pottery Street Greenock.

Here is what we provide:

Play Therapy for children and young people( age 3-18yrs) for referrals relating to issues of medium to complex difficulty including trauma; PTSD; physical and mental abuse/ neglect; family breakdown; chronic illness; grief and loss; domestic violence; children/ young people who may not be able to verbally articulate what has happened to them; disability; neurodivergant young people.

Young People/ Teen Counselling( 14- 18yrs) school issues; online bullying; family relationships; peer and friendship difficulties; self esteem/ confidence; self harm/ low mood; neurodivergant.

Superhero Groups/ Change Grief and Loss Groups- For children age 5- 18yrs- Peer support

WEE MINDS GROUPS- Birth to 3yrs - a fun attachment based early child development group for parents and infants.

Parent/ Carer Family Support- Individual and couples- Support for parents inc intensive family work.

Workshops for professionals and for parent/ carers- bespoke and designed around the needs of each organisation.

Delivered by fully qualifed, highly experienced indemnity insured; professional registered; Clinically Supervised Play Therapists; CBT Therapists; and Person Centred Counsellors; and qualified highly skilled and experienced Family and Group Workers. We have therapists with additional qualification and specialism in Filial Therapy( parent and child together); Autplay- work with neurodivergant children and young people; and in Story Stem Assessment Profiling(Attachment Assessment).

Fast track services available on request.

Referrals can be made to our service from parents or young people themselves.

For more information call 01475 339019 or email: children@mindmosaic.net

Mind Mosaic Child and Family Therapies is a registered SCIO - Charity number SC 049103 based in Ladyburn Business Centre Pottery Street Greenock.