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Welcome
What
is Play Therapy?
Play Therapy seeks to empower clients by using their
own imagination and natural creativity to prevent or resolve
psychosocial issues and promote healing and growth.
For children, play is recognized as one of the most natural modes of
learning and interacting with others. It is through play that children
often express their feelings, explore themselves and their
relationships, and attempt to understand their experiences. Children may
be able to transfer their anxieties, fears, and guilt through toys
rather than adults.
Through play therapy, children may be able to increase their feelings of
self-worth and self-acceptance with the help of a caring relationship
with an adult. Children are encouraged to understand their play as a way
to express, explore, and work through conflicts and issues. Play therapy
also promotes the exploration of feelings and behaviors associated with
past events and issues outside of the playroom.
Parents have an important role in the play therapy process and can offer
a great deal of support for the child. Parents can meet with a trained
professional to learn more about their child, ways to support their
child, and learn how to communicate with their child through play.
There are many approaches to play therapy and each professional chooses
a method that fits with his/her personal values, beliefs, and counseling
orientation. Below are just a few tools that may be used to enhance a
child’s experience during the play therapy process:
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Sand Trays |
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Art |
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Music |
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Puppets |
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Story Telling |
If you are a student or professional wanting to learn more about play
therapy, we invite you to learn more about workshops and conferences
throughout Georgia. Also, you can learn more about becoming a trained play therapist in
your state through the Association
for Play Therapy.
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