FAQs
"How long does each therapy session take?"
The session takes 45 minutes and it is once a week on a set day and time. It is good to arrive 5-10 minutes earlier to allow some time for your child to settle and make a smooth transition from a real-world setting to a therapy-setting.
"How many sessions in total is required?"
The easiest cases (such as school refusal) take 12 weeks minimum. Children with ADHD, ASD, trauma, bereavement, low self-confidence, divorced parents, etc. need more time to work on several issues.
"How do you monitor progress?"
In Play Therapy we use several tools to evaluate and measure the therapeutic outcomes. These are the SDQ, parent interview forms, teacher interviews (upon parent's permission), clinical observation and notes, HTP, sand tray, and mandala techniques.
"Will PT fix a naughty child?"
Everyone wishes for a "naughty child" to get well-behaving ASAP. But that's not how PT works. Deep in their unconsciousness, children know, they first have to feel good about themselves, before their worry about what others think of them - especially if they have been labeled "bad" in the past. Once they will have worked on their self-perception, only then they can approach other issues such as "what others think of me".
A nice thing to remember: No child really wants to be naughty. It is in human nature to desire to be liked by others.
"What if my child does not want to come any longer?"
It happens. And it feels like it is designed to annoy the parents even more.
Depending on the relationship parents have with their child, depending on set boundaries a family goes by. By "not wanting to come any longer" the child either communicates his need for special attention from parents or is testing boundaries. Coming to therapy is new to the family routine and is not an easy thing - in therapy, children work on their deepest worries and underlying little or big traumas. Working on these is not always pleasant for a child's unconsciousness, although it happens in play mode.
It is good to acknowledge the child's feelings in neutral mode: "I understand. I know you feel like not going. It is not easy for you. We will go together and all will be fine"
Parents need to communicate with the therapist, and together they patiently support the child in completing the therapy.
"I feel anxious. Do I need therapy too?
Many people worry that going to therapy is a sign of weakness. Is it really? Recognizing that we need help and asking for it, is a brave and smart thing to do. Parents are surprised to hear that I have rarely met a person who did not need therapy.
Therapy saves lives, families, relationships, marriages. Therapy is at least like a good vitamin we can take to boost our immunity.
Immunity to difficulties we are facing at a difficult part of our life. And who does not have those?
"What is an SDQ?"
Goodman’s Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire was devised to assess the level and type of difficulty a child may be experiencing which is affecting his behavior and stability. It also measures the child’s strengths. Each category is scored out of 10. The Goodman questionnaire is based on statistics that show 80% of children in UK community present a ‘normal’ (0-11 total difficulty score) emotional response to the questions 10% borderline (12-16 total difficulty score) and 10% abnormal (17-40 total difficulty score).
It is a simple questionnaire that maps the areas of strengths and difficulties from 3 perspectives: the parent's, teacher's, child's.
"For what age is PT suitable?"
Play therapy is a type of psychotherapy using non-directive creative activities in place of verbal communication being the main tool.
In other words: Have you ever chased your child? Have you played with play-dough with them? Have you played with Legos with them? Have you sung your lungs out in the shower this morning? All these are called creative activities. Or at least that's what our brain thinks.
Why? The moment we start being creative or doing any creative activity (or simply play), we leave the rational thinking and get absorbed by the unconscious - "we forget ourselves, get lost in time and space". Our blood is filled by happy hormones oxytocin, endorphins, serotonin....and suddenly, we don't even know how but we feel good, relaxed. Ever wished for this to last forever? Yeah, the time pressure and the society's need for us being productive and functioning adult, makes us forget our playfulness. And not only us, the adults. Our children too. And it does not matter how old they are. And, no, the mobile phone will just not do the trick.
In the PT room, anyone of any age or gender will find the space, the time, and the desire to do something creative. And that's what we need to start changing things. So don't get puzzled by the name "Play Therapy".
And you know what?
Play!
It is healthy!