Common Misconceptions About Play Therapy (And What the Truth Is)

Play therapy can be a largely misunderstood therapeutic modality. A lot of people have questions about what it is, what it isn’t, and how it actually works. If you’re a parent or caregiver, you may have encountered people discussing play therapy and have wondered what it is and whether your child would benefit from it. Read more below, and if you find yourself feeling curious about how play therapy could work for your child, click the contact button now to schedule a free 15-minute phone introduction.

Misconception #1: Play therapy just means playing while doing talk therapy.

A lot of people think play therapy means playing while engaging a client in talk therapy or using play as a rapport-building tool before “getting to the real work.” While this may be true for some therapists working with children, play therapists are trained in understanding how to interpret play themes and how to facilitate change through play - the play is the real work. Play therapy is a specific type of therapy, and there are different modalities underneath the play therapy umbrella. Each session could have a wide range of verbal engagement, and that’s perfectly okay.

Misconception #2: Play therapy is just playing around.

Play is the language of children, and it allows kids to express feelings, communicate challenges, integrate experiences, and learn life lessons, among many other things. Play therapy looks and feels quite different from regular play - some kids might find play therapy fun, while others may notice that it feels like hard work (because it is)! Because of play therapists’ specialized training, play is used as the therapeutic tool to lead to long-term change, and responses to children’s play are very intentional.

Misconception #3: Play therapy is just for young children.

Play therapy isn’t just done when kids are engaging in imaginative play; play therapy (especially synergetic play therapy) is about a way of being with another person and healing through a relationship. play can also be conceptualized in many different ways - how someone tells a story, what someone decides to share, how someone interacts with you throughout a session, etc. When older kids and adolescents see play therapists, we’re not only considering the content of what they’re saying, but we’re also thinking about how they show up in relationships and what they’re communicating through everything they’re not saying. Play therapy sessions can look a million different ways, and they can be adapted to fit a kid’s age, developmental stage, interests, and strengths.

Misconception #4: Play therapy isn’t as effective as talk therapy.

Many parents come to play therapists because their children struggle to identify and verbally express their feelings and/or talk about how they felt or why they did something - which makes perfect developmental sense. The emotional parts of a child’s brain develop much faster than the parts of the brain that control language, meaning it’s quite difficult (and not developmentally appropriate) for children to be able to talk through their feelings and challenges at length. Play therapy, on the other hand, engages children and meets them where they’re at developmentally.

Misconception #5: Play therapy won’t teach my child skills.

Play therapy sessions are filled with opportunities for learning and skill development. Most children learn best by modeling and experientially, which is what play therapy sessions are all about. As play therapists name the feelings and experiences coming up, children learn and develop more awareness about what they’re currently going through (or what remains unprocessed from the past). As play therapists model their own ways of regulating through big feelings coming up in sessions, children observe new ways to respond. Eventually, sessions become a place to try out and practice new skills to eventually create new patterns over time. Play therapists keep in mind the individual goals a child is working on and integrate them into sessions to present learning opportunities.