What is Play Therapy?

Play therapy is an evidence-based therapeutic approach designed for children, facilitated by a mental health professional with specialised training and qualifications. This method uses play as a therapeutic tool, with techniques varying depending on the specific model of therapy used.

In play therapy, the therapist utilises play and toys to help children express their feelings, thoughts, and experiences, much like adults use words in traditional counselling. Play therapy allows children to express themselves in ways they might not be able to with words.

By engaging in play therapy, children can explore their emotions, develop new skills, and work through their difficulties in a safe and supportive environment. The therapeutic relationship between child and the therapist is central to this process.

Play therapy also strengthens the parent–child relationship by supporting parents/caregivers to gain deeper understanding of their child’s underlying needs and inner emotional experience, and to learn news ways of supporting, attuning and responding to those needs.

Play therapy can provide valuable support for children facing a variety of challenges, including developmental concerns, anxiety, trauma, behavioural concerns, emotional and regulation difficulties, self-esteem issues, grief and loss, family changes, and social challenges.

How Can Play Therapy Help Your Child?

Benefits of Play Therapy

Promotes the development of a healthy self-concept
Provides a safe space for children to express, explore, and process emotions
Strengthens the ability to form healthy, meaningful connections with others
Builds developmental skills and core functional capacities
Offers a safe and supportive environment to process trauma and challenging experiences
Enhances emotional and body awareness and increases a child’s regulatory capacity

Girl child, painting with orange and red on white paper

The Playful Minds Approach

At Playful Minds Therapy, we don’t ‘fix’ children or behaviours, instead, we look beneath behaviour to understand the underlying emotional needs that may be driving it.

The play-based therapy process involves being fully immersed in your child’s world, to learn what it is like to be them. This builds understanding of their inner experiences, emotional and bodily regulation, and relational patterns, allowing therapy to support their unique developmental and emotional needs.

Therapy unfolds at your child's pace. It is not a quick-fix approach, but a thoughtful, responsive process that deepens over time. When children feel safe, understood and supported at this deeper level, change happens from the inside out.

The Role of Play

Play is one of the primary ways children learn, develop, and make sense of the world and their experiences in it. In therapy, play provides children with a safe and natural way to express emotions, communicate needs, and explore relationships.

By observing and engaging with your child through play, valuable insight is gained into their inner world to respond in ways that are developmentally sensitive and therapeutically meaningful.

What Therapy Can Look Like

Therapy at Playful Minds is co-created with families. Depending on your child and family’s needs, therapy often includes:

Direct therapy sessions (child play therapy and/or parent-child play therapy)
Regular parent/caregiver consultation sessions and additional parent support (by phone, or in person) as needed
Collaboration with schools and other professionals to promote shared understanding and consistency in support across services
Completion of screening tools and development of therapeutic resources when helpful
Optional parent/caregiver individual therapy through our Nurture and Play collaboration with Nurture Geelong, recognising that parent growth alongside child therapy, supports the best outcomes for the whole family system

The exact structure of therapy is created with you and will often shift and adapt over time in response to your child and family’s needs.

The Therapy Experience

Change for children is never linear, it can at times feel hard. Just like learning to walk, growth can involve vulnerability, regressions, repetition and patience.

When parents/caregivers are actively involved and supported through this process, they are better able to aid their child’s growth, making therapy more effective and sustainable.

Is Playful Minds the Right Fit?

Finding an aligned therapeutic service is one of the most important factors in a successful experience. We strongly encourage families to take time to consider whether this approach feels right for them.

If you’re looking for a quick fix, behavioural approach, we are unlikely the best fit for you. If you’re seeking a holistic, child-centred therapy approach that supports long-term emotional growth and wellbeing, our service may be a good match for your family.

Our therapeutic approach is guided by your child’s unique needs and unfolds at their pace. We provide a thoughtful, responsive process that deepens over time.

Our approach requires emotional engagement and time commitment from parents/caregivers. As a private practice fee for service, it also requires financial resourcing and works best when families feel aligned with our approach and process.