5/02/2019

Emotional And Psychological Benefits Of Play Therapy

By Matthew McDonald


When it comes to emotional and mental health issues, individuals have a lot of options when it comes to treatment. While this is the case, play therapy often works best for children. At the same time, there are more severe conditions which might require the assistance of a psychologist or psychiatrist.

By providing a safe method for young individuals to express experiences in a safe and self-guided process, therapists can learn a lot about a child. As children often communicate best when playing alone or with others, playtime is now considered an important aspect of childhood. In fact, therapists have now taken this to another step by monitoring children while playing alone or with others to diagnose a number of behavioral issues.

By participating in this type of therapy, children often learn how to develop mastery when it comes to identifying and developing innate gifts and abilities. As a result, once children begin to use these skills to overcome a number of emotional psychological challenges, most also develop a stronger sense of pride and self-worth.

It has also been shown that playing can contribute to the development and advancement of critical thought. Whereas, it also allows children to release strong emotions and sentiments which often leads to a feeling of relief. In fact, children will often play out experiences which would be undesirable in real life.

Now considered a valid form of psychotherapeutic counseling, the therapy can assist adults and children in overcoming psychological challenges. When it comes to children, the goal is to help children become more comfortable with overcoming trauma, emotional health, growth, development and social interaction. For, the more a child learns how to interact with other children and adults, the more likely the child will behave and interact appropriately later in life.

As part of the process, therapists are now using this type of therapy to diagnose and treat a number of mental health issues. To do so, a therapist will most often observe a child playing with different types of toys and ask questions if the behavior seems outside normally accepted behavior. In most cases, this therapeutic playtime along with how the child answers any questions will be enough for a therapist to identify the cause of behavioral problems or emotional issues.

According to several sources, children will engage in play in order to work through anxieties and emotional blocks. As a result, play oriented therapy then becomes a self-help mechanism which the child can use on an ongoing basis. While this is the case, a child must be allowed to play freely and without structure before any results can be seen with regards to the self-help process.

If a child shows distress, most therapists will use a type of relearning or desensitization therapy to change the behavior which caused the issue. Most often, those using this approach are hopeful that the process will lead to lasting change. Although, there are times when this approach can also backfire and therapists must seek out other methods to eliminate negative behavior.

Playing has been recognized as a beneficial aspect of life since the time of Plato from 429 to 347 B. C. For, the great philosopher observed a number of individuals at play and determined that people could learn more about one another in sixty minutes of playtime than in an hour of conversation. As such, it appears playtime, whether or not associated with therapy, can be beneficial to people of all ages.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment