Play can be the tool that a child
needs to work through feelings and
difficulties. Perhaps re-enacting the car
accident allowed him to make sense of
this experience or to understand the
reality of what he observed.
For this child, the car accident was
a minor event, an experience that
he was able to process on his own, at
his own pace, in a safe environment,
using play. Consider an event in a
child’s life that takes much longer
to process, is buried deep because
it’s too difficult to comprehend or is
compounded by a series of events.
These experiences are too difficult to
process without support.
Adults who attend therapy use
words to express themselves, children
use play. In play therapy, children
do not have to talk about their
problems to feel better; children can
communicate through the use of toys
and art materials. Play that is self-
initiated, self-led and uninterrupted,
without assumptions or expectations,
can be highly beneficial to a child’s
development.
Filial play is a branch of play therapy
that includes a parent in the process.
Play is used as the glue that children
need when they’re feeling insecure;
it helps them to feel more connected
to their parent. In filial play, parents
become the primary agent of change
as they learn to conduct child-centred
play sessions with their own children
to develop communication and build
positive interactions.
Through play, challenging
moments are often the times when
children learn the most about
themselves and when parents learn
most about their children.
April 2015
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