Play therapy looks an awful lot like play. It’s true. But play therapy is much more than just play. It’s a powerful therapeutic method that supports children in using the right hemisphere of the brain to process emotional material that might otherwise feel overwhelming. Play therapy benefits children by offering a safe, permissive space to process difficulties, in the warm presence of a regulated adult, while engaging in creativity. The symbolic language of play is a child’s first language and they can often express what they need to communicate with more ease.

Images, imagination, and metaphors are part of the language that comes from the right hemisphere of our brain. When we have a chat with another person, tell them stories, or talk about the weather, we primarily use our left hemisphere. This side of the brain enjoys logic, spoken words, and making cognitive sense of things—it’s our “thinking brain.” The right hemisphere, on the other hand, is more about feeling, creating, and expressing through body sensations, emotions, nonverbal gestures, and symbols like metaphors. Play therapy is a right brained therapy.

The Importance of Play

Many people think of play as a way for children to have fun or pass the time. In truth, play is a meaningful act that helps children make sense of their lives, explore different ways to work with challenges, and use imagination to meet their unmet needs. Free play time is important over childhood to support developmental milestones and mature, build a positive self concept and confidence, practice and strengthen social and relational skills, and it contributes to mental health. Free play time is unscheduled, unstructured, often unsupervised, time where children engage with their world through imagination. They take risks, connect with nature, and come to know themselves more deeply.

When parents notice their child struggling with emotions after a tough experience or their child is facing behavioural challenges, they might seek help from a certified play therapist.

Establishing Emotional Safety

Within a relational and embodied approach, the first step is always establishing enough emotional safety in the relationship between the therapist, the child, and the environment. Emotional safety is the undisputable foundation of the therapeutic process. The child must feel free to express themselves authentically without fear of judgement or rejection. They need to know that they are accepted and cared for unconditionally.

Once trust and safety are in established, the emotions, stories, and symbols that need to be expressed naturally surface. These expressions guide the child toward positive growth and healing.

How Play Therapy Works

While the child plays, they often communicate through symbols and metaphors. For example, a child might create a story about a baby, a duck, and a helicopter crash. As the therapist, I make sure the child knows they have my focused attention, I witness their expressions, and reflect on the story in particular ways to encourage shifts. Occasionally the therapist may add to the metaphor or narrative to help the child process what might be stuck or overwhelming . During the play session the therapist is noticing the child’s metaphorical expressions, their nervous system state, their relational patterns, their developmental age, and many other details.

Have you ever felt stuck overthinking a situation until you shared it with someone you trust? Sharing can bring clarity and emotional relief. For children, play therapy provides this same relief by allowing them to express their feelings metaphorically and nonverbally.

Focusing on the Whole Child

In Relational Embodied Play Therapy, the focus is on the child as a whole person rather than on a specific behaviour. Instead of addressing a symptom, the therapist explores the underlying foundation of the challenge. The therapist considers the child’s environment, relationships, stressors, and overall well-being. The focus is always on what the child is trying to communicate through their behaviour.

All children want to connect with their caregivers, feel loved, and experience a sense of belonging. When something in their world feels wrong, children might act out to communicate their needs. Play therapy benefits children by helping them feel seen and understood while addressing underlying emotional challenges.

Supporting Nervous System Regulation

Children facing challenges often arrive in the playroom with some level of nervous system dysregulation. Through somatic approaches, we help the child to coregulate and learn to more easily regulate their own nervous system. Relational Embodied Play Therapy, a neuroscience-based style, focuses on tracking the child’s nervous system states, such as hyperarousal or collapse, and teaching them to coregulate and self-regulate. Incremental changes often lead to noticeable improvements over time, like fewer meltdowns or navigating stressors with more ease.

The Goal of Play Therapy

The ultimate goal of play therapy is to create more settled, connected, and loving families. Supporting parents is a vital part of this process. By connecting with parents, teaching them about relational and embodied ways of being, they can incorporate some of the techniques used in therapy at home. Parents are the most powerful catalyst for change for any child that is experiencing challenges. They are the most important people in the child’s life.