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Playing with Wooden Toys

Play Therapy

Renowned play therapist, Rise Van Fleet eloquently sums it up, "When we, as adults, encounter a tough problem, we often think about it for a while, look at it from different angles, determine our options, and sometimes talk about it with someone we trust.  When things go wrong for us, we might mentally review what happened and think about how we might handle the situation in the future.  During play therapy, children do these same things using their imaginations.  Play therapy provides the tools (toys and activities) and the atmosphere to help children express themselves, work on their problems, "try on" different solutions, and learn more effective coping methods."

Play therapy is a form of therapeutic, educational, or developmental intervention that helps children utilize their natural language -- play -- to learn and heal. Play therapy is an evidence-based practice that is designed to help children grow up as happy and well-adjusted as possible.  In play therapy, children use play to communicate, learn to solve problems, and develop new skills. Caregivers are involved in play therapy in a variety of ways - in the play room and through consultation with the therapist. At The Blue Couch, we use play therapy to help children with:

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  • Increasing social-emotional competence

  • Grief and loss

  • Divorce and family dissolution

  • Crisis and trauma

  • Anxiety

  • Depression

  • ADHD

  • Hospitalization

  • Physical and sexual abuse

  • Domestic violence

  • Academic and social difficulties

  • Physical and learning disabilities

  • Conduct disorders

  • Separation anxiety

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But aren't you just playing? Play is not something trivial; on the contrary, it is one of the most critical elements of healthy child development. Children develop the ability to use language and words to solve problems (like many adults do) at a later age. Therefore, meeting children where they are in their development helps build confidence, understanding, and compassion. We can understand our children better if we understand their play.  By watching children play we often learn more about their thoughts, feelings, motivations, and struggles than by talking with them.

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What is the purpose of playing? Play serves an important developmental role for humans and animals, too. Play provides opportunities for risk taking, experimentation, assuming different roles, learning new roles or skills, learning how to function in society, and developing social relationships. Play exists across the developmental lifespan - from birth to old age - its purpose remains the same while the activities evolve with us. 

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The Blue Couch is proud to offer play therapy to the greater Mankato community. The Association for Play Therapy (APT) confers the Registered Play Therapist™ (RPT™), Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor™ (RPT-S™), and School Based-Registered Play Therapist™ (SB-RPT™), credentials upon those licensed clinical mental health professionals to help the public identify those with specialized training and experience in play therapy. Learn more about APT and visit their Parent Corner for helpful information.

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