Play therapy can be helpful with (but is not limited to):

Anxiety

Depression

Lowered self-confidence

Adjustment difficulties

Separation anxiety

Sleep difficulties

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“What is a normal child like? Do they just eat and grow and smile sweetly? No,
that is not what they are like. The normal child, if they have confidence in mother
and father, pulls out all the stops. In the course of time he/she tries out his/her
power to disrupt, to destroy, to frighten, to wear down, to waste, to wangle and to

appropriate….At the start he/she absolutely needs to live in a circle of love and
strength (with consequent tolerance) if he/she is not to be too fearful of his/her own
thoughts and of his/her imaginings to make progress in his/her emotional
development” D.W. Winnicott expert British paediatrician and parent-infant
therapist.

Children do not talk easily about their deeper worries. Sometimes a child is only
vaguely aware of their worries, if at all. Parents may only become aware that their child
is finding life difficult by noticing changes in their child’s behavior.
In situations where the child is consciously aware of their worry, they may not have yet
developed the verbal skills to talk openly. In such a situation, communication can more
easily occur through play and drawing. It is for this reason that play has come to be
recognized as the communication most accessible to a child.
The therapist observes the child’s play behavior, and the associated feelings can be
discussed, thought about and understood together in an age-appropriate way. Slowly,
children can start to gain some sense of control (mastery) over their experience, which in
turn allows them to further work through their worry and associated feelings. ‘Working
through’ does, however, require an appropriate time frame and the ongoing support of
significant others such as parents, caregivers and therapist.