Dr. Brenner Child Therapy - Sherman Oaks Child Therapy - Los Angeles Area Child Therapy

Play therapy is to children, what counseling is to adults. Toys are their words, and play is their language. The process of spontaneous play allows children to resolve the psychological tensions created by stressful events in a child's life. Play therapy is to children, what counseling is to adults.Children are able to face difficult events because they are using familiar language and reactions where they have control of the play. The new scripts and schema that children create in the Play Therapy room are then generalized to their external environments. Play therapists believe it is their job to understand children in their language, not the child’s job to articulate his or her dilemma, in the language of the adult.

Developmentally, young children lack the cognitive ability to meaningfully communicate their deepest thoughts and feelings through verbal language. The concrete objects (toys, art, music, etc.) and other play-based experiences provided in play therapy, afford children an age-appropriate means to express their difficult experiences. Children’s behaviors are almost always an expression of what’s going on inside them.

Play therapy gives children an opportunity to make sense of their thoughts, feelings and life experiences in a way that is comfortable, safe, and non-threatening. In the process, children learn to develop greater trust in themselves, their abilities and their relationships. Typically, play therapy for a child can last between 16 to 20 visits. Play Therapy is an evidence-based approach for preventing and resolving children’s psychosocial difficulties. Studies have consistently demonstrated its effectiveness with a broad range of emotional problems.