Play Therapy as a Treatment Approach for Children With Anxiety

Many young children, especially those with anxiety, are unable to express their thoughts and emotions verbally. Play therapy as a treatment approach for children with anxiety is a creative way to assist them in communicating their anxieties, their thoughts, and their feelings. It is also a way to teach them how to cope with their feelings and a way for them to learn how to manage them.

Play therapy is a method of psychotherapy for children suffering from anxiety, wherein a child’s fantasies and the symbolic meanings of their play are used to understand and to communicate with the child. Doll houses, puppet plays and art are some of the ways where children can demonstrate their ideas, anxiety, and other feelings. With Play Therapy as a treatment approach for children with anxiety, the psychotherapist is able to assess the anxiety during play and he can advise the child on other ways to reflect on the anxious feelings and suggest methods to cope with them. A concrete example could be how a child can demonstrate a fear of dogs through drawings or feelings of loss in dollhouse play.

Children are able to convey their thoughts and feelings more easily and more naturally through play than through verbal communication. As children play, themes and patterns emerge which the therapist may interpret as important to the child’s recovery. Play therapy is used to address underlying psychological issues related to or causing their anxiety.

In the management of Play Therapy as a treatment approach for children with anxiety, the therapist utilizes their understanding of cognitive development and the different stages of emotional development together with their knowledge of the conflicts common to these stages.

Play Therapy as a treatment is beneficial for children who are dealing with:
1.   parental conflict, separation or divorce.
2.   traumatic experiences like sexual, physical or emotional abuse or as witnesses of such abuse.
3.   adopted children or those who are in foster homes.
4.   grave loss including death or illness of a loved one.
5.   major disasters or accidents.
6.   severe illness or hospitalization.
7.   Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD or ADHD)

The objective of play is to reduce behavioral and emotional difficulties that significantly interfere with a child’s normal life. Play Therapy is usually applied to children aged 3 to 11 who have emotional and behavioral difficulties including aggressive behavior, temper tantrums, bowel and bladder control problems, nightmares, sleeping difficulties, extreme worries or fears. Children with physiological and biological issues as well as those with clinically diagnosed severe anxiety are given proper medication in addition to the Play Therapy.

The Process of Play Therapy

Complete histories of the children are gathered as well as the clinical assessments; followed by a consultation with the parents or guardian, before Play Therapy is begun with the child. Appropriate directive or non-directive play therapy treatment that is appropriate for the individual needs of the child is thereafter chosen.

The initial sessions with the children‘s parents before the Play Therapy is started is crucial for the therapist to learn as much as possible about the children and the nature of their problems, their social, emotional, developmental, medical and school history, and other relevant facts about the case. Subsequent sessions with the parents are critical to evaluate the children’s progress at home and at school and to advise the parents about parenting techniques or alternative methods of communicating with their children.

For the duration of the Play Therapy the therapist and the child meet alone about once or twice a week. The therapist meets with the parents separately about twice a month, to discuss the outcome of the sessions and to advise them. The therapist also brings the parents and child together in some sessions based on their judgment of the situation. The duration of the Play Therapy depends on the environment and the objectives of the treatment.

After several sessions, the therapist assists the children to understand the meaning of the plays, and the issues which are affecting them and their relevance to their difficulties. When the children are able to overcome their symptoms and have established stability over a period of time, and they can adequately relate with peers and adults at home, in school and in other social situations, the Play Therapy is shifted, to focus on the process of termination or saying goodbye. This termination phase will trigger a significant change and a loss for the children. It reflects the constantly changing world in which we live and should be well understood and accepted by the child.

The children are given the chance to communicate their thoughts and feelings about the end of the therapy and the subsequent parting with the therapist. Parents are encouraged to participate with the therapist in the termination phase of the Play Therapy to make it easier for all parties to understand and accept the impending loss of the therapist, who had become an important part of their lives in a very special way.

Outcome of Play Therapy

Consequently, at the end of the Play Therapy, improved understanding and communication is achieved between the children and their parents. There should also be significant improvement in the children’s communications with their peers and with other people.  Corollary aims of Play Therapy include improvement of verbal communication, better control of impulses, enhanced relationship with others, increased capacity to trust and relate to others.

Results of Play Therapy as a treatment approach for child anxiety include significant decline or loss of the anxiety related to traumatic events in their lives for which the children were treated. It assists the children in the development of their confidence, competence, creativity, self-expression, playfulness and appropriate behavior. The children are able to assume sufficiently normal functions and relationships at home and in school, able to partake in and enjoy social activities after the Play Therapy treatment.

If you suspect your child may be suffering from anxiety, click below to learn more about what you can do to help:

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