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Play Therapy

How does this work?

Play is a natural way to explore, express, and heal. For both children and adults, this approach supports working through emotions, experiences, and challenges that can be difficult to put into words.

 

Play therapy is a therapeutic approach that uses creativity, imagination, and symbolic expression to help people process feelings, experiences, and conflicts.

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For children, play is their natural language - it’s how they explore and make sense of the world. For adults, symbolic and experiential methods can help access experiences stored in the body or beyond words.

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Play therapy works with the nervous system by supporting emotional regulation, reducing overwhelm, and engaging right-brain processing.

 

On this page, you’ll learn more about play therapy and how it can help you or your child feel more seen, heard, valued, nurtured, and understood.

How can this approach help children?

Play therapy uses play as a developmentally appropriate way to support children in communicating, processing experiences, and working through challenges. Children naturally use play to create meaning and organize their inner and outer worlds.

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Through symbolic expression using toys, stories, and creative materials, children can explore difficult feelings and experiences at a safe distance, allowing them to be expressed and processed without relying solely on words. Services offered vary depending on the age, stage of development, and needs of the child.

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Play therapy is recommended for children experiencing:​​​​​

  • Anxiety and fear

  • Social skills and boundaries

  • Grief, loss / bereavement

  • Attachment concerns

  • Nightmares or bedwetting

  • Struggling with change in family dynamics

  • Challenges with academic motivation and success

  • Sensory disorders

  • Shame and low self-esteem

  • Limited verbal-cognitive capacity to express themselves

  • ​Self-control and impulsivity

  • Focus / inattention

  • Aggressive behaviors

  • Sadness and depression

  • Trauma, abuse, and neglect

  • Situational trauma

  • Medical trauma

  • Adoption support

  • Bullying and struggling peer relationships

  • Life transitions such as a move, divorce, and blended families

Children’s behaviour is a form of communication for feelings and experiences they may not yet have the words for. Whether a child is withdrawn, anxious, melting down, or behaving aggressively, these responses often reflect unmet needs or internal distress.

 

As play therapists, we are trained to look beneath behaviour, understand what it may be expressing, and help give voice to a child’s emotional world in a safe and supportive way.

Play Theray | | Bharaari Mental Health

FAQs

1) What is Play Therapy?

Play therapy is a developmentally appropriate form of counselling that supports children to express thoughts and feelings through play rather than words. Unlike adults, children do not yet have the cognitive capacity for abstract reasoning or verbal problem-solving, especially under stress. In play therapy, children communicate naturally through play in a safe, supportive space. This allows them to explore emotions, practise new ways of responding, build social skills, and work through challenges at their own pace. The same therapeutic principles apply to both in-person and online play therapy.

2) What happens in a play therapy session?

Sessions run for 30–60 minutes. Children are invited to engage in play with the therapist either in a dedicated playroom or online. Clear limits are set when needed to support safety while allowing emotional expression. The therapist follows the child’s lead, reflecting their play and underlying emotions rather than directing the session or asking many questions. This helps children develop self-awareness, choice, and responsibility.

3) What should parents or caregivers expect?

Some children may initially want a parent present until they feel comfortable. When ready, the therapist will support a gentle transition to independent sessions. It’s normal for behaviour to temporarily intensify before improving, as children begin to process emotions through play. Parent consultations are held regularly to discuss themes, progress, and practical strategies to support the child at home, while maintaining the child’s trust and confidentiality.

4) How is play therapy different from playing at home?

Play therapy is not simply play. It is a structured therapeutic process facilitated by a trained play therapist. Through the therapeutic relationship, children feel understood and supported as they work through emotional or behavioural difficulties.

5) How does play therapy help?

Play therapy supports brain development through experience and relationship. By exploring real-life situations within the safety of play, children develop insight, emotional regulation, and healthier ways of coping.

6) How long does play therapy last?

The length of therapy varies for each child. Research suggests meaningful change often begins after around 20 sessions, with deeper progress typically seen closer to 40 sessions. Duration depends on the child’s needs, the nature of concerns, and environmental supports.

7) How do I prepare my child for their first session?

For in-person sessions, explain that they will visit a special playroom with toys and creative materials. For online sessions, let them know they will meet the therapist on the computer for special time together.

8) What is the playroom like? (In-person only)

The playroom is a child-friendly therapeutic space with carefully selected toys and creative materials that support emotional expression, imagination, and safe exploration.

Next Steps
 

If your child is struggling in ways that are hard to explain, support is available.

 

You’re welcome to:

 

  • Enquire to discuss what you’re noticing at home or school

  • Book an appointment to begin

 

 

Play therapy isn’t about correcting behaviour. It’s about helping children feel safer in themselves, strengthen regulation, and make sense of their inner world in developmentally appropriate ways.

I pay my respects to the rich cultural, spiritual, and ancestral traditions of India, and to the collective strength and interconnected ways of being that continue to shape and sustain its communities. I honour the values, wisdom, and knowledge systems carried across generations, along with the enduring legacies, voices, stories, and heroes who continue to shape its identity and redefine its spirit.

I further acknowledge the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which I lived, studied, and worked in Australia, and pay my respects to Elders past, present, and emerging. I remain deeply grateful for the education, opportunities, and guidance received there, which continue to shape my professional and ethical practice.

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