Play Therapy

Play advances children's thinking, motor skills and emotional development.  A child's play at home is basically the same as in the playroom, however, during play therapy the main purpose is to resolve emotional problems and lead to a better understanding of a child's needs and re-establish balance in the child's sense of well-being.
When children play, they are able to express their emotions such as anger, fear, happiness, shame and frustrations. Adults, when stressed, need to talk through their problems and often describe in repeated detail until the problems feel less intense.  Children are often lacking the skills and developmental capacity to talk about or understand their feelings like adults, so they use play in the same way as adults use words.  They will repeatedly play out their problems in detail with decreasing detail over time until they gain understanding and comfort with their problems.

Play therapy can help your child by...
• Developing understanding of their feelings.
• Expressing their feelings to better meet their needs.
• Developing coping and problem solving skills
• Practicing life's struggles to gain mastery and control over emotions.
• Reducing difficult behaviors that create negative consequences in their life.
• Working through conflicts.
• Increasing self-confidence.

Play therapy can help your family by...
• Developing increased understanding of child development.
• Developing increased understanding of your child and improving communication.
• Learning importance of your child's play and emotions.
• Learning new skills for positive childrearing results.
• Reduce frustrations.
• Making parenting more enjoyable.

Many children who have been referred for play therapy may be struggling with the following issues:

• Depression, sadness, moodiness.
• Grief & loss.
• Divorce and family dissolution and possible relocation.
• Chronic illness of self or family member.
• Aggressive behaviors.
• Excessively worries, is anxious or having separation issues.
• Traumatic stress from physical, sexual or emotional abuse.
• Self-esteem or identity problems.
• Attachment related difficulties in biological/foster/adoptive families.

Here are some statements from the children:

Children Who Witness Domestic Violence

The Group Program is educational and preventative in nature and is designed to meet the needs of children on Prince Edward Island. Each group consists of 10 weekly sessions (1-12 hours). The topics covered in the group range from the exploration of feelings to roles of mothers and fathers and discussions on violence, its forms and methods of staying safe.

The target group is children (ages 7-11) who have witnessed domestic violence in the family home. The ultimate goal of the program is to help decrease the incidence of abuse and prevent the transmission of domestic violence to the next generation.

The specific objectives of the program include:

• Help children understand the dynamics of wife assault occurring within the family and to understand the proper assignment of responsibility for the violent behaviour.
• Promote and allow the positive, effective expression and comprehension of feelings.
• Teach the child how not to get in the middle and to run interference in their parents disputes.
• Enhance the child’s self-esteem, safety skills and social supports.
• Teach alternative, non-violent, problem solving techniques,
• Promote an understanding of gender roles in relation to violent behaviour.