There is play in every child's world. While the game develops the child in many aspects, it is also of great importance in overcoming some problems that can be seen in the child (behavioral disorders, adjustment disorders, anger problems, toilet problems, etc.). For this reason, play activities are frequently used in child therapy.
Play contributes to the child's development in many ways. These include increasing the child's communication skills while playing, determining the rules and limits of the game, and being able to express his/her emotions, thoughts and feelings easily. Children are not aware of their emotions, feelings and thoughts like adults, and since their ability to express themselves verbally is limited like adults, expressing themselves through play is the key point in therapy. For this reason, situations such as how the child plays the game, how he constructs it, how he behaves while playing, actually reflect the child's inner world. Children learn best through play. They learn many things about life through games. For example, while playing helps children develop communication skills, it also increases children's exploration skills. According to research, it has been observed that children who play frequently have an increase in their learning skills. In addition to all this, children who play have more control. One of the most important reasons why games are used in therapy is that they provide emotional release in children. Children who can express their emotions have fewer behavioral problems. For this reason, play therapy is very functional in problems experienced in children.
Play Therapy in Children:
In psychotherapy, children have some different aspects from adults. Children cannot express their emotions, thoughts and feelings like adults, or they have difficulty expressing them. The easiest way for children to express their emotions, thoughts and feelings is through play. Through play, children express their anger, resentment, disappointment, jealousy, sadness, fear, dreams, trauma and many situations they experience without realizing it. This is the way to express it kid It gives people the opportunity to cope more easily with the situation they are experiencing. For example, when a child experiencing sibling jealousy expresses this through play, his jealousy decreases and he copes with the feeling of jealousy better. Children who develop the ability to express themselves and the mechanism to cope with their emotions also have more self-confidence.
The Most Common Problems Seen in Children:
Every Some psychological problems may be observed in the child. Psychological problems often cause behavioral problems in children. Among these, common problems include sibling jealousy. The situation that causes sibling jealousy is mostly the child's unwillingness to share his/her loved ones with someone else and also the anxiety of not being loved or valued by the people he/she loves. If these emotions are experienced intensely, some behavioral problems begin to appear in the child experiencing sibling jealousy. These problems can also make parents very uncomfortable. Toilet problems are among other problems frequently seen in children. Situations that cause toilet problems include fear of failure, coercive parental attitude, sibling jealousy, school phobia, depression, parental divorce, and some traumatic situations experienced by the child. Failure to overcome the toilet problem may cause the child to experience some psychological problems in adulthood. Anger control disorder still maintains its place among the frequently encountered problems. Underlying some behavioral problems such as attacking parents, frequent shouting, unstoppable crying spells, and high tendency to violence, the child's uncontrollable anger is often the reason. Anger management problems can put both the child and the parents in very distressing situations. Attention problems are among the common problems in children. Attention disorder is especially seen in anxious children. Attention deficit is often seen together with hyperactivity. Children who cannot express their emotions experience hyperactivity, nail biting or sleep problems when they cannot cope with these emotions. school problem and t Discharges are also among the common problems in children. Some children may experience some tics. Tics may occur in children and adults, especially as a result of not being able to discharge intense emotions. If tics are noticed, it is very important for parents to resort to play therapy without wasting time. As time passes, the likelihood of tics becoming permanent increases if no intervention is made.
The purpose of play therapy is to first understand the inner world of children who come to psychotherapy with the problems listed above or other problems, and to identify the source of the problems. In the play therapy room, the therapist not only helps the child realize his own capabilities, but also helps him develop the ability to cope with the emotions he is experiencing. In addition to all these, the main goals of play therapy are to increase the self-confidence of all children who come to play therapy, increase their self-control skills, improve their stress tolerance mechanisms and ensure that they are more adaptable. Other problems seen in children include bedwetting, not eating, intense stubbornness, obsession, frequent stomach aches, inability to make friends, difficulty in communication, intense masturbation, etc. There are often psychological reasons at the source of the problems experienced. For this reason, play therapy is among the most reliable ways to overcome problems because the child expresses something in every behavior he reflects to the outside world. The therapist sees this in the playroom and interprets it. This enables the child in therapy to cope with the problems better.
Play Therapy also works with the family
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Children are ostensibly taken into the play therapy room, but in the background the therapist is also collaborating with the family. Working with children requires teamwork. The therapist meets with the parents before taking the children into the playroom. According to the anamnesis taken from this interview, the problems experienced by the child are discussed in detail. The therapist provides psycho-education to parents when deemed necessary, ensuring that psychotherapy progresses more efficiently and quickly.
Play therapy covers ages 2 to 12. The age range may vary in children whose development is early or late. Learn that play therapy can be applied to children whose emotional development is very delayed, even at the age of 17. How often the sessions will be held and how long they will last vary from child to child. Sessions are usually held once a week and parents begin to see changes in their children after 10 sessions. In some children, the frequency and duration of this session is increased depending on the depth of the problem and the trauma. For example, a child who has experienced severe trauma may be recommended to come to play therapy twice a week. In short, session duration and frequency vary for each child. It is very important for parents who observe any behavioral problems in their children to apply for play therapy, because problems that are ignored in childhood are likely to cause bigger problems in the future.
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