By Anglican Family Care | Posted: Monday June 17, 2019
"You can discover more about a child in a hour of play than you can in a lifetime of conversation." - Plato
Play Therapy is a therapeutic approach where the child, through the therapeutic relationship and within the context of play can safely begin to explore complex issues within their lives, such as trauma, grief, separation and emotional regulation. Within our agency, a person/child centered approach is used. This allows the child to lead the play, giving them control over their therapy and experiences. Bruce Perry has said “I really believe that anyone who is working with individuals of any age should be using expressive arts and/or play to address trauma”. Child Centered Play Therapy holds is built on the premise the child has within them the capacity and ability to resolve their own problems. It is not hurried; it is within their time frame. They have control over their therapeutic process.
We have been offering this service to children and adults living in Dunedin at Anglican Family Care (AFC) for over 4 years. In her role as Family Start Whanau Worker, Kirsten (our Play Therapist) had been working alongside children and their families when it became increasingly evident that there was a lack of therapeutic services for pre-school children in the city. “Therapeutic services for very young children were limited and often a developmental mismatch due to the modality offered. I really believe in the importance of the first 1000 days in a child’s life, during which time the brain is developing, to ensure a child receives what they need to flourish. Early intervention works best when things go wrong” said Kirsten.
Sometimes adults think children are too young to understand their life experiences. However, children of all ages are shaped by their experiences, many of which are beyond their control.
After further research and seeing more and more children presenting with challenging maladapted behaviors, we took a chance and invested in the Play Therapy Service. Initially the service was provided one day per week and gradually grew to a full-time service in the 2017-18 year.
The children we work with have all been vulnerable, presenting with complex emotional needs and have a combination of one or more factors, including neglect, abuse, complex attachment issues or trauma. When these experiences are traumatic, difficult to understand, abusive, or involve relationship attachments, the child may struggle to cope and often express these experiences in maladapted behaviours.
These early experiences can shape the child and, if not resolved, impact into adulthood.
In the playroom, through the use of toys and creative mediums such as art, sand, clay, sensory exploration, music and drama, the child is facilitated by our Play Therapist, to play through their issues. “The play isn’t hurried, it’s at their pace – as deep emotional work takes time”. explains Kirsten. Children come along once a week for a minimum of 3 months, and this is frequently extended, depending on the child and their needs. Play therapy is suitable for adults and children and Kirsten can work with both.
Trauma is perhaps the most avoided, ignored, belittled, denied, misunderstood, and untreated cause of human suffering. Peter Levine
We receive 50% of funding from government to deliver this essential service and it's only due to the generosity of our donors, businesses and trusts and other organisations that help us to meet the financial shortfall.
Our Wish List
Over time Kirsten has carefully collected toys and props, many have been donated and some purchased from second-hand shops. There is one key resource that is missing from the Play Room a ‘Reborn baby Doll’. There are many benefits to using a Reborn Doll in the playroom (as opposed to an ordinary doll), their characteristics resemble a real baby, they're weighted, have moveable limbs that look and feel like a baby and assist both the child and adult to work through any attachment, relationship and trauma. This is significant part of the early work with a child, as Kirsten seeks to understand and support attachment repair with the parent before beginning work with the child.
Two dolls would be ideal, as the play can be simulated between the child/adult and Kirsten our Play Therapist, which will help significantly with the healing process. If you can help us to achieve our wish, we would love to hear from you. All enquiries can be made directly to Enquiries@Familycare.org.nz or call 03 477 0801