But why Play
AND not Talk?

To begin, it is again important to stress on the ‘Child Centered’ aspect of this form of therapy. A child is free to talk in the room if they so wish to. The only difference is that a whole range of toys and materials are also made available for them to interact and manipulate.

 

Here’s why:

Most children below the age of 11 lack a fully developed capacity for abstract thought for which verbal reasoning is needed.

Words are made up of symbols and symbols are abstract.

But children use mental images, objects, and actions to represent that which can’t be seen or felt. Their world is made up of concretes- in other words, their toys!

Toys are their metaphors- a natural way for them to express themselves, develop coping strategies and make sense of all life events.  

A carton can be a fort or a castle or a house. A rolled-up newspaper can be a weapon, a tin can a percussion instrument and a simple drawing with stick figures can tell us a script of a film.

If you have observed a child play, you surely know what we are talking about.

A child simply may not be able to understand and express their feelings and the intensity of their emotions through words. Or it may not feel safe or comfortable for them to use words for expression. But they can safely project the same difficult feelings and emotions on to the chosen toys and elements from the Play Therapy Room.  

 

Till children, especially from 3-11 years of age, develop the capacity for insight, self-awareness and verbal expression (not to mention the ability to sit on a chair for over 30 minutes), therapy through play may be developmentally more suitable.

In this manner the therapist comes to the level of the child and not the other way around.

And the therapy becomes ‘Child Centered’.