Play therapy

For a child, play is a crucial part of its development. It is challenged and encouraged through games, which is why since 1920 the Play therapy was used and further developed as a healing approach for various diseases. Depending on the type of therapy, certain areas are addressed.

What is play therapy?

Play therapy is a psychoanalytic approach that is used in child psychology. It was developed in the first quarter of the 20th century by the psychoanalyst Hermine Hug-Hellmuth. In the following years it was taken over by various people and further developed. The child's body is stimulated to heal through various games as a therapeutic measure.

The patients naturally follow their innate playful instinct, which contributes to their development and serves to develop different character traits. In addition, it promotes learning behavior. Children get to know themselves and their environment through play and stimulate their brains. This promotes the child's memory and helps children learn to express themselves. Difficulties in childhood that cannot be mastered by parents can lead to psychological problems.

Often times, parents are unable to cope with these problems on their own. Play therapy can help here, as the legal guardians also learn the special language of their child. In addition, the therapist can determine in the game whether a longer therapy is necessary. For children up to teenage years, play therapy is the method of choice for expressing themselves non-verbally and also dealing with thoughts that they would otherwise not express.

Function, effect & goals

The goals of play therapy are on the one hand to break down neurotic behavior and to gain new knowledge. On the other hand, the child awakens his skills and learns to put his feelings into words.In addition, there is learning to appreciate and accept oneself. Another goal is to develop problem-solving strategies and to develop emotional stability.

Play therapy is used when children suffer from a developmental delay or slowdown, for example. In addition, there are often emotional and psychosomatic problems. These show up in fearful, aggressive or often shy behavior. The children appear restless, fidgety or completely refuse to speak. Emotional stress can lead to chronic abdominal pain and headaches, for which usually no physical cause can be found. Depending on their age, affected children poop or wet themselves again, although they are long out of age. Play therapy is also used for social difficulties. Affected people rarely play, usually have few friends and difficulties in speaking to other children. They do not know how to behave towards others and often have problems following the rules. At school they can be outsiders and at home, for example, there is strong rivalry with siblings.

The reasons for emotional problems can be many. Difficult domestic situations are often responsible for this. This includes parents separating or divorcing, as well as relocations or losses that they have to deal with. If the child is sick or a loved one, this means severe stress, which can lead to apathy or aggression. Outside the home, bullying and violence at school can also be the reason for behavioral problems.

In order not only to find out these things, but also to find solutions, various types of play are used in therapy. This includes various types of functional play that is used by infants and toddlers. In doing so, new skills are acquired through repetitions of courses of action. Another possibility is the so-called symbol game, in which behaviors or objects have to be noted. The task of imitating the parents is also possible, in which fictitious actions have to be acted out. In addition, the child learns in the construction game to organize themselves, to learn through failure and to experiment. In addition, it learns social behavior through role play.

This is usually done using doctor or father-mother-child games in which the child slips into one of the roles. This is a way to process positive and negative experiences and give the therapist clues about difficulties. In rule games, children learn to stick to agreements. In addition, they should learn to deal with frustration and develop an understanding of right and wrong. The prerequisite for the rule game is the ability to express oneself verbally or non-verbally accordingly. Most of these approaches are also used by curative educators and curative educators.

particularities

Play therapy has some special features. First and foremost, this includes the absence of a therapy atmosphere. Children undergoing psychological treatment often feel pressured or intimidated. With play therapy, on the other hand, you can relax and quickly forget about the therapy itself. In addition, they can more easily establish a connection with the therapist. The different games naturally arouse joy and excitement as well as curiosity.

This helps with a natural development of the child and offers the possibility of development. Characteristics of play therapy are, for example, desensitization through repetitive games, forgetting time and dealing with the environment. Self-esteem is strengthened and the game serves as an outlet for pent-up feelings. It also teaches children how to articulate and express themselves in language. This allows problems to be handled and resolved better.