Play therapy is a psychotherapeutic approach primarily used with children. It utilizes play as a natural form of communication to help children express feelings, thoughts, and experiences. Through various play activities, therapists can assess, understand, and address psychological and social issues.
The therapy room is a safe space where children can explore feelings and behaviors without fear of consequences. The child generally leads the play, with the therapist following and reflecting, and play allows children to symbolically express and work through difficult experiences.
This may be a good fit if…
- ✓Your child is between roughly three and twelve
- ✓Behaviour has changed and nobody can get a straight answer about why
- ✓Something happened: a death, a separation, a move, a frightening event
- ✓Your child says they are fine and clearly is not
- ✓School has raised concerns you are not sure what to do with
Key benefits
It meets children where they already are
Children do not sit down and describe their inner life. They show it. Play therapy uses the language they already have rather than requiring them to learn yours.
Safe distance from hard material
A child who cannot talk about what happened at home will often play it out with figures, at one remove. That distance is what makes the material approachable.
Parents are part of it
Regular parent sessions are built in. You will not be left outside the room wondering, and much of the change happens in how the household responds rather than in the playroom.
Well-established, not improvised
Play therapy has decades of practice and research behind it across anxiety, trauma, behavioural difficulties, and adjustment to family change.
How Play Therapy works
How Play Becomes Therapy
For young children, play is the language. The therapist is trained to read it and respond in it.
- 1
Safety first
The child leads. The therapist follows their play and builds trust before anything else.
- 2
Expression
Sand tray, puppets, drawing, and games let the child show what they cannot yet say.
- 3
Working through
Themes repeat and shift. The therapist reflects, names feelings, and gently adds new options.
- 4
Carrying it home
New endings in play become new skills. Parents are coached so the gains hold at home and school.
The playroom toolkit
How play therapy works at Crown Counseling
The first meeting is usually with parents alone, to get the history without your child present. Your child then has their own sessions in a room set up for it, and you meet your therapist regularly to go over what is emerging and what would help at home.
- A parent-only intake before your child attends
- A consistent room, a consistent time, and the same therapist each week
- Regular parent sessions, typically every four to six weeks
- Coordination with school when that would help, with your consent
What we will and will not tell you
You will get themes, progress, and practical guidance. You will not get a transcript. Children need to know the room is theirs, and a child who believes everything is reported back stops showing anything. The exception is safety: anything indicating your child is at risk comes to you immediately, and we say that plainly to the child too.
Free Play Therapy tools and activities
Free to use, with no sign-up. Try them between sessions, or share your screen to use them together in a telehealth session.
FeelingsFeelings Chart
Thirty feeling faces, a kids version, a random-feeling game and a guided check-in that ends with a card to keep.
Open tool →
FeelingsEmotion Games for Kids
Feelings charades with a timer, a feelings memory match and feelings bingo with a caller screen, plus printable cards for all three.
Open tool →
Social skillsSocial Skills Games
"What would you do?" cards for kids and teens, a build-a-conversation game and a body language guessing game, plus a printable worksheet.
Open tool →
Problem solvingSize of the Problem Game
Sort everyday problem cards into small, medium and big, match the reaction to the problem, and make your own problem scale.
Open tool →
FamilyFamily Therapy Games
Question cards in six theme decks, a rose, thorn and bud check-in, and a family agreements poster to print.
Open tool →
What to expect
The process begins with an intake meeting where the therapist meets with parents or caregivers to gather information and set goals. Initial sessions focus on building trust between the child and therapist, followed by regular play sessions where the child engages in free play or structured activities. Parents receive regular check-ins to discuss progress and strategies for supporting the child.
- 1
A parent intake session covering history, concerns, and goals
- 2
Weekly sessions of forty-five to fifty minutes in a dedicated playroom
- 3
Sand tray, figures, art materials, puppets, and games, chosen by your child
- 4
Themes rather than transcripts reported back to you
- 5
Parent sessions every four to six weeks to review and adjust
- 6
A typical course of twenty or more sessions, since children move at their own pace
Ready to start?
Tell us a little about yourself and we will match you with a clinician trained in Play Therapy.
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