Children express their feelings and thoughts, their needs and the problems they experience through play. For this reason, information about children's inner worlds can be obtained through play, which is an important need for the child. Filial Therapy is a method that helps parents strengthen the emotional bond they establish with their children through play, improve the relationship between them, and contributes to reducing negative behaviors in the child. .
Filial Therapy is a different form of Child-Centered Play Therapy applied with parents. Filial therapy helps parents better understand their children's emotions, improve their communication with their children, and become more confident as parents. In filial therapy, parents learn some skills to use while playing with their children. In order to communicate more effectively with their children, they gain knowledge on subjects such as reflection, empathic listening, encouragement, setting limits and offering options. After they acquire these skills, they spend 30 minutes of special play time with their children once a week, and during this time they focus on the child, not the problem. Thanks to the feedback given by the therapist, they realize their shortcomings as parents and learn how to improve these aspects. In addition, the meaning of the play sessions is interpreted by the therapist and parents gain a better understanding of their children's emotions.
In filial therapy, children feel unconditionally accepted by their parents. In this way, their self-confidence increases, they begin to be more aware of their own emotions, they learn to express their feelings and thoughts appropriately, their problem-solving skills improve, their problematic behaviors decrease, and they take on more responsibility.
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