IS PLAY AND PLAY THERAPY THE SAME?
No! The difference between the two is the presence of a therapist. As a very big name in our profession says: A therapist is the most important tool in the Play Therapy Room.
A safe relationship, a relationship in which a person feels secure, seen and nurtured is the most important intervention for a human being. And in the Play Therapy Room the therapist fosters a secure relationship with a child and this relationship then becomes the base for a child to begin exploring themselves and their world.
As it is 'Child Centered', the child is in charge of their own therapy and they can actively work on experiences that made them feel powerless or put them in distress.
Free Play, on the other hand, isn’t enough as a developmental and healing process when a child is under stress or has experienced or is experiencing trauma.
A child uses play to express themselves by projecting experiences on to another object like their toys and other materials. This places them at a psychologically safer distance from themselves, their conflicts and all the people in their lives, and they are able to explore their feelings, emotions, memories more fully and openly.
But without the presence of a trained therapist who is able to enter their inner world, be attuned to them, pay close attention to the symbolism of their play, track and reflect, the child simply isn’t able to ground these experiences or find a resolution.
This is to say that Free Play will result in cognitive, personal and social development but will not necessarily result in therapeutic outcomes of making a child work through their troubles and challenges.
For example, at home a child may share all their toys with an older sibling. But in the Play Therapy Room, they may push away a doll representing the sibling. A Play Therapist will pay attention to this and they may track and reflect: You’re pushing them away- you don’t really want to play with them.
Another example: A child who has SLD in Free Play may show that they are asking questions to playmates in an imaginary classroom and that playmates can’t answer any of them. And thereby the child with SLD is externalizing the insult or humiliation they may be feeling at school each day.
However, the experience isn’t grounded and there may not be a realisation of what the child is actually experiencing without a therapist in the Play Therapy Room. The therapist seeing the same play may reflect: Wow! You really know things that others don’t!
By saying this the therapist has acknowledged what has come up in the room. The child feels seen and understood. Being understood deeply, having your perspective heard, is itself one of the most powerfully moving experiences one can have and counters the painful sense of being dismissed and ignored.
A child has many restrictions growing up and often feels a lack of autonomy and control. In the Play Therapy Room, a therapist is accepting of every process of the child- nothing is a no-no. And the room becomes a safe and contained place for exploring all kinds of feelings, memories and sensations stored in the body.
For example: In real life a child may not be allowed to act out their anger or display aggression. But in the Play Therapy Room, a child is welcome to display anger or aggressive behaviour. A child is simply showing us that that is what needs to be worked through. And by letting a child experience that they can learn about it and ultimately learn how to regulate through it. Child may indulge in a ‘sword fight’ or take on a puppet that is aggressive or dangerous like a crocodile that is attacking a rabbit, pummel clay or have a fight sequence with soldiers and warriors in the tray.