Play and Creative Arts Therapists work with children and young adolescents, suffering from a range of psychological difficulties and complex life experiences – including for example depression, anxiety, experiences of abuse, grief, family breakdown, domestic violence and trauma. A professionally trained Play Therapist works to help a child to gain insight and understanding of their experiences, increasing emotional resilience and developing coping strategies while decreasing problematic behaviours and internalised conflicts. Play Therapists work closely with the child’s parents/carers throughout the Play Therapy intervention and occasionally undertake parent-child relationship interventions. Play and Creative Arts Therapists are trained to undertake a range of therapeutic tasks with children of all ages, ranging from nursery age through to adolescence. Play therapists will carry our therapeutic interventions based on a period of assessment with the child and their carers and will review their intervention regularly with all those involved. They work predominantly with individual children but sometimes groups. Filial Play Coaches also offer joint work involving parents/carers. Therapists are skilled in developing symbolic communication and establishing in-depth therapeutic relationships. This mode of communication and type of relationship facilitates change and growth in individuals experiencing emotional distress. The emphasis is on the therapist communicating the core conditions of genuineness, empathy and unconditional acceptance within the therapeutic relationship.
