Play therapy

Play therapy refers to a range of methods of capitalising on children's natural urge to explore and harnessing it to meet and respond to their developmental and mental health needs. It is also used for forensic or psychological assessment purposes where the individual is too young or too traumatised to give a verbal account of adverse, abusive or potentially criminal circumstances in their life.

Play therapy is extensively acknowledged by specialists as an effective intervention in complementing children's personal and inter-personal development. Play and play therapy are generally employed with children aged six months through late adolescence and young adulthood. They provide contained ways to express experiences and feelings through an imaginative self-expressive process in the context of a trusted relationship with a care giver or therapist. As children's and young people's experiences and knowledge are typically communicated through play, it is an essential vehicle for personality and social development.

In recent years, play therapists in the Western Hemisphere, as a body of health professionals, are usually members or affiliates of professional training institutions and tend to be subject to codes of ethical practice.

Play as therapy

Jean Piaget emphasised play as an essential expression of children's feelings, especially because they do not know how to communicate their feelings with words. Play helps a child develop a sense of true self and a mastery over their innate abilities, resulting in a sense of worth and aptitude. Play contributes to the advancement of creative thinking, and provides a way for children to release strong emotions.