Play Therapy
Natacha Latouf
Play Therapist
083 447 4507
Play is the child’s natural way of communication and a medium by which to sort out his world and make sense of it. While playing, the child can project his situation, express his feelings and bring it to the surface where he can acknowledge, experience and master it. Children and parents benefit from play therapy:
● Children who need to adapt to change in their situation, like moving to a new house, going to a new school, divorce of parents, receiving a sibling or immigrating.
● Children who have trouble handling a traumatic experience (hospitalisation, accident, crime, death).
● Children with unresolved grief after the loss of a family member, friend or pet.
● Children who have trouble making friends, who are shy and withdrawn in group situations.
● Children with low self-esteem and low self- confidence.
● Children experiencing anxiety, stress and fears at school (difficulty separating from parents in the morning, exam or test stress, fearful of certain people or activities), at home (anxious or fear to eat or sleep or go to the toilet, fear of people, public spaces and noises)
● Children being the victim of being bullied or the bully themselves.
● Children with aggressive, disagreeable or challenging behaviour (tantrums, not co-operating or listening, biting, scratching and spitting).
● Children who bite their nails, suck their thumbs or wet or soil their beds or clothing (potty training difficulty).
● Children who struggle with emotional regulation (highly emotional sensitivity).
● Children with psychosomatic symptoms (stomach-aches or headaches without a medical reason).
● Children and parents who have a strained relationship due to divorce, blended family, adoptive child situation.
● Hyperactive children (lack of concentration, hyperactive, impulsive, inattentive)
● Children with depression (lack of interest and motivation, suicidal)
● Children who have poor social skills (difficulty interacting in a socially appropriate manner with peers or adults).
● Parental Guidance (helping parents understand their children’s emotions and teaching parents acceptable discipline techniques to manage their children)- “Punishments and Rewards.”
CRM: Community Resiliency Model
● Teaches skills to help children and adults experiencing stress and traumatic stress reactions.
● CRM skills can be used as a wellness practice.
● Human beings respond to stressful and traumatic experiences in similar ways.
● Human beings are resilient and most are able to bounce back to their best selves after difficult life experiences.
● There is a biological reaction common to most of humanity after traumatic experience. A person is having a common experience to an extraordinary life event.
● Current scientific research is demonstrating that the brain can be changed.
The Community Resiliency Model skills come from the Trauma Resiliency Model created by Elaine Miller-Karas, LCW and Laurie Leitch, PHD.
Therapeutic intervention
Therapeutic intervention consists mainly of three processes:
● Assessment of the child.
● Therapy with the child as well as parent and child; and.
● Parental guidance and support.
School related: Separation anxiety, bullying, extreme shyness, victimization.
Medical related: Soiling, bedwetting, stool retention
Hospitalization: Chronic or terminal illness
Sleeping problems: Sleep training, nightmares, nighttime terrors
Anxiety: Generalized anxiety disorder, separation anxiety
Trauma: Trauma due to crime, birth trauma, medical trauma
Childhood depression:
Emotional problems: Related to neurological disorders ex ADHD
Loss: Ex divorce, death, emigration
Change in the child’s world: New baby, new school,
Behavior problems: Aggression, withdrawal, selective mutism
Emotional regulation:
Parental guidance: The parent is always part of the team. Parents are involved in therapy sessions, and guidance and support to parents are an integral part of the therapy.
School: When applicable, and with parent’s consent, observation of the child in class as well as feedback from teachers will be part of the intervention.
CPRT: Child-Parent Relationship Therapy
Child Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT) is a 10-session model where the therapist teaches caregivers child centered play therapy skills that can be implemented with one’s own child, as well as cultivates more adaptive parental attitudes and perceptions of the child.
CPRT was derived from the filial therapy model of Guerney (1964). CPRT improves the quality of the parent-child relationship, in turn prompting improvements in multiple domains for the child and caregiver.
EMDR: Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing
EMDR is a neuro-therapeutic approach working on internal conflict caused by past trauma. Using a technique called Bilateral Stimulation, the “Adaptive Information Processing System” is activated, which moves the negative stored information to an adaptive and healthy position.
