The Challenges and Benefits of Play Therapy

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Play is a way for children to learn about their environment and how their interactions occur within, though play children develop resilience. However, some children may experience stressful occurrences during their existence and therefore, play can be often be restricted. Therefore, the play worker’s role in facilitating a child’s play is a crucial measure towards the child's development. Practitioners that work with children experience the skilfulness to prompt or even contribute to a child’s play, which is a principle constituent in therapeutic alliance. However, for those children mentioned above, what happens when play becomes nonexistent or deprived, then how do these children engage in play? This has been a continuous argument amongst practitioners as well as researchers in the field of child development, and consequently, this essay will “evaluate some of the benefits and challenges of developing play/leisure activities” of therapeutic play, along with identifying how play serves its purpose in regards to children’s holistic and play development. Using a therapeutic partnership, this essay will accentuate how the therapist can facilitate the play of the children of all ages through the means of a child centred-play therapy / directive play therapy.

For all living beings, play is an instinctive biological disposition, which helps to facilitate and enrich children’s overall development. In addition to play facilitating and enriching lives, many theorists as well as researchers have shown play to form a fundamental facet of children’s wellbeing, suggesting that providing the opportunity to play enables children with the ability to work out problems through solutions along with enhancing creativeness.

Furthermore, promo...

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...to reality and to create awareness of their responsibilities in promoting the child’s development stages (Porter et al., 2007).

Works Cited

Lindon, J. (2001) Understanding children’s play Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes.

MaMahon, L. (2009) Play therapy (2nd ed.) New York: Routledge.

Axline, V. (1947) Play therapy

Gil, E. (1994) Play in family therapy. New York: The Guilford Press.

Lanyado, M and Horne, A. (1999) Child and adolescent psychotherapy London: Routledge.

opPorter, L, M., Hernandez, M and Jessee, P. (2007) Play Therapy: a review Journal*

Redgrave, K. (2000) Care- therapy for children New York: Continuum.

Piaget, J. and Inhelder, B. (1969) The Psychology of the Child. London: Routledge.

Landreth, G. (2001) Innovations in play therapy. New York: Brunner-Routledge.

Moyles, J. (2005) The excellence of play (2nd ed.) Maidenhead: Open University Press

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