McAtee Psychology
Play Based Interventions Calgary
By introducing playfulness into emotionally heavy topics, play-based therapeutic techniques can enhance children’s engagement in the therapeutic process. Play is often associated with positive feelings. These feelings can help to buffer children’s distress, allowing them to feel safer when accessing overwhelming emotions.
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Play-based interventions are activities designed to improve socio-emotional, physical, language, and cognitive development through guided interactive play. A therapist that uses play-based interventions may use reinforcement, modeling, verbal redirection, and indirect instruction to support and encourage child play activities. It is developmentally responsive to children’s social, emotional, and cognitive development.
Specifics
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Specifically for children - preschool age and up
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Children are internally motivated to play because it is engaging and fun, and when children play, they are focused on the activity itself instead of the outcome. It facilitates the development of the therapeutic connection/relationship between children and the therapist and can increase a child’s ability to explore, interact, and express themselves.
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Play-based interventions can take place in various settings such as small groups, one-on-one, and in family sessions.
How It Helps
What does it help with?
Play-based interventions within a therapeutic setting contributes to overall well-being and healthy development.
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Processing grief and loss
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Social skills/social development
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Increasing emotional awareness
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Family life changes/transitions
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Self-esteem
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Anxiety and depression
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Trauma
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Increasing empathy for others’ thoughts and feelings
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Development of healthy problem-solving skills
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Alleviating internalizing (social withdrawal, physical health complaints, nervousness, etc…), and externalizing (physical and verbal aggression, defiance, inattention, etc...) behaviour problems
And much more..
