What is Play Therapy?

‍Children learn to play before they learn to walk or talk - play is a child's first language and it is their most natural form of communication. 

Young children who have experienced upsetting events and trauma often do not have the maturity to communicate their uncomfortable feelings and negative beliefs through words. In the play therapy experience, toys are the child’s words, and play is the language. 

Through the use of art, puppetry, sandtray, therapeutic stories, and games, children can often show metaphorically what they cannot communicate with words and thus experience healing. Play also provides emotional distance from distressing topics and builds a safe and enjoyable therapeutic relationship. 

Play therapy is effective for children as young as three years old and can continue to be helpful with older children and occasionally up into the teen years. Click here to learn more about the research supporting the efficacy of Play Therapy.
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My play therapy services are informed by years of training and practice with the Canadian Association for Play Therapy (CAPT), including:

• 180 hours of graduate-level coursework specific to the areas of play therapy from the CAPT certificate program
• 1500+ direct on-site hours of supervised general clinical practice, plus an additional 500 hours of supervised practice specific to play therapy
• 50+ hours of clinical supervision and direct observation by a certified CAPT Supervisor 
• 14+ hours of play therapy specific supervisor training in addition to ongoing direct supervision on the clinical supervisory process
• 12+ hours of continuing education per year in the theory and practice of play therapy, in addition to ongoing supervision by a certified CAPT Supervisor
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