Making therapy a place your child wants to be.
When your family is experiencing something difficult and reaching out for support, that is often also a time when family members, including children, might be more hesitant to use that support. Attending therapy can be overwhelming, scary, angering, or even boring, particularly if you are a child who does not have the same say as adults in whether you attend. At Capital Crescent Collective, we empathize with all the ways therapy can be difficult for your family to start, and we are committed to creating an experience your family wants to be a part of.
One of the primary ways that play therapy invites your family into the healing process is by making it fun! Children no longer have to be worried that they will be lectured or have conversations that are boring to them (and beyond their developmental stage). Instead they can express themselves in ways that are more appropriate to their age, through play! In their play, they can express ideas and feelings that they may not have the verbal ability to express and become more engrossed in the topics at hand with less inhibition. As you have fun and find comfort together, the learning centers in your and your child’s brains will light up, allowing you both to take in new skills and ideas more easily.
Therapy often asks us to approach topics, problems, and ideas that are difficult, uncomfortable, or scary. Asking children to talk about these things directly and jumping into real world skills with real world stakes may skip past helpful ways for your child to explore, get comfortable, and build confidence through play. “Talking” through play and acting out difficulties through stories can give families a safe enough distance to process emotions and ideas without becoming overwhelmed or triggering the solutions and responses you are trying to rethink together.
Build emotional resilience.
Gaining that safe enough distance through play therapy lets children and families look at a problem or difficulty from a new angle (sometimes literally!) and gives freedom to explore without the problem seeming bigger than they are. Without real world stakes holding them back, your child might get curious to try new things or change their stories. Even if they do not feel ready in themself to stand up to a bully or be brave when a nightmare arrives, they could be willing to let their toys try it out for them first.
Getting your child to do homework or complete chores regularly can put enough strain on your relationship already, and adding demands to practice skills that feel boring or overwhelming does not have to add to that burden. In play therapy, children often want to reinforce their learning repeatedly, because they are having fun doing it. As your child becomes more immersed in the play therapy process, they will likely want to rehearse the same stories, use the same toys, and continue adding to the same art much more than once, making practicing together between appointments a source of connection, not stress.
With all this practice gathered in a safe environment, it becomes much easier for children (and families) to believe they can manage a problem or concern. Play therapy teaches bodies, not just minds, that problems do not have to be overwhelming and change is possible. When your family joins in healing play together, not only do you get to experience moments of deep bonding and connection, you also get to grow in the same direction, allowing you to be even stronger supports to one another.
Supporting your needs
Not only do we want your family to experience the powers of play in the therapy space, we also want it to be easy for you to feel the benefits in your everyday life. With busy schedules and minds, it is not uncommon for therapy skills, learning, and progress to fall away from families by the time they get home. Our virtual play therapy services, however, allow the benefits of play therapy to come into your home in real time! Your child can use toys and supplies they are already comfortable and connected with and will continue to have access to between sessions. Strategies, reminders, and skills can be directly set up and go through troubleshooting right where they will be used. And rehearsals of new stories or solutions can take place exactly where they are needed!
Every family deserves access to play therapy and its benefits, but practical barriers can get in the way for many families, particularly in the DC area. When you have been commuting on 495 all week, shuttling your children around to multiple extracurriculars, and feel like you are away from home all day, trying to find time to commute to a therapy office may increase stress rather than bring relief. When your child has been exposed to an illness at school or weather is changing your plans, you do not have to lose your routine or your regular support. Our virtual play therapy service will let you log in from the comfort of your own home, reducing your burdens and bringing relief to you.
With all this talk of how helpful, comfortable, and beneficial play therapy can be, you may be wondering who all gets to experience it. We are happy to share with you that play therapy is not just for young children. All brains benefit from the powers of play! While the tools and ideas will be different for different people, ages, and stages of life, play is powerfully healing for older children, adolescents, adults, families, and couples too! When you are feeling stuck in your thoughts or overwhelmed by talk therapy, we would be honored to join you finding comfort, safety, and healing through play.
Play therapy can be used to address specific challenges including:
- Abuse and neglect
- ADHD
- Aggression
- Anxiety
- Behavioral difficulties
- Communication
- Cultural differences
- Depression
- Family conflict
- Insecure attachment
- Low self-esteem
- School pressures and demands
- Self-harm
- Social impairments
- Stress arising from major life changes (e.g. new house, new school, arrival of a new sibling)
- Stress arising from medical conditions and chronic illness
- Stress arising from sibling’s challenges (e.g. sibling behavioral or medical problems)
- Tantrums
- Trauma
Requestion a consultation today to learn more about virtual play therapy for your child or teenager at Capital Crescent Collective.