1. Alison Almonte SSTRIDE 5th
Play Therapy
Alison Almonte
SSTRIDE 5th

2. Origin
Play Therapy is therapy in which emotionally disturbed children are encouraged to act out their fantasies and express their feelings through play, aided by a therapists interpretations.
The Greek philosopher Plato ( B.C.) once said “you can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation”.
This made other psychologists want to “look into it”, these psychologists were named Hermine Hug hellmuth (1921), Melanie Klein (1955) and Anna Freud (1965), they began to implement (put into effect) play therapy into their psychological practices with children.

3. Purpose
The purpose of play therapy is so the children express feelings, thoughts, experiences and behaviors through play, the child's natural medium of communication. (Their own way through play therapy communication)
Basically play therapy helps children be more social and help the children to solve their own problems.
For example, children that could have excessive anger can be effected in school and with family members, as a result play therapy can help children communicate at their own level and at their own pace.

4. Method
The most used methods in play therapy is creative visualization, therapeutic story telling, drama- role play, puppets and masks and clay.
So there are many ways children can express themselves, most children that go to play therapy have some type of behavioral disorder.

5. Does it work? Does play therapy really work?
Well play therapy is very helpful for children that have suffered any traumatic events or have a type of disability or behavioral issues.
I actually have a cousin that had some anger issues and he was in play therapy for two years, now he's ten years old and no longer acts out as he use to, he learned how to control his actions and express his feelings in a better manner.