What is Play Therapy?
Alison works from a holistic and child-centred theoretical perspective, providing a safe space and trusting environment through the therapeutic relationship, allowing a child to communicate at their own level and pace to express, explore and make sense of their difficult and painful thoughts, feelings and experiences and problems through play. Alison works closely with the child’s support network and offers advice and strategies to parents, carers and teaching staff involved.
What are the benefits?
Child-centred play therapy has many benefits for children, including:
Play therapy can not only help children to recover from difficult life experiences, but also in doing so, helps children to be more receptive to learning and therefore enables their educational needs to be better met, thus reducing the need for additional children’s services.
It also can:
Why play therapy in school?
Play therapy in schools is very appropriate for the following reasons:
It is a familiar and safe environment for both children and their parents/carers
How does the process of Play Therapy work?
Once you have made contact with Alison, she will arrange a Free meeting to discuss Play Therapy in your school. During the meeting she will discuss having Play Therapy in your school; including potential Play Therapy referrals, what day and time, and suitable play therapy room that the Play Therapy can take place each week that is consistent and private.
Once a referral is received the school will be asked to make contact with the parents/carers of the children to arrange an introductory meeting. This will be part of the assessment period, gathering relevant information, sharing details of the play therapy process and completing a therapy consent form. Further assessments at this point may take place, including observations, joining parent and child sessions, child assessment sessions and talking with the relevant professionals involved with the child.
Alison will then begin the Play Therapy work with the child, which will be at the same time and place once a week for usually 45/50 minutes. During the first session with the child, Alison will explain the child to explain Play Therapy to them in age appropriateness language to help them understand what play therapy is about and why they are attending, introduce them to the materials and explain the rules and procedures of the Play Therapy space.
Child-centred play therapy cannot take place without the parents/carers consent and the child’s assent
Initially 6 sessions once a week will be agreed upon and after this, it is between the therapist, client and parent/guardian about therapy continuing with regular progress reviews. For some children they will respond to short term intervention of roughly 12 weeks. Children whose problems have persisted for a long time or are complicated may need a longer-term intervention. The number of sessions depends on the individual child. The play therapy sessions usually take place between 45-50 minutes each week, on the same day and time, which is intended to provide consistency for the child and helps to develop a trusting relationship.
What I offer
Alison Play Therapy covers the areas of Hertfordshire, North London including Radlett, Mill Hill, Edgware, Barnet, Bushey, Watford, Potters Bar, Elstree, Stevenage, St Albans and the surrounding areas.