Play Matters Creative Therapy

Name: Play Matters Creative Therapy
Telephone: 07465431124

1:1 Therapy sessions for children, teens and adults

Play & Creative Therapy

Flexible therapeutic creative arts based techniques adapted to meet the needs of your child.

In play and creative therapy we provide lots of creative ways to express feelings. Whether it's paper and pens for drawing, puppets and toys for storytelling, sensory play or games. It's a fantastic way to help children communicate their difficulties in a safe and supportive way. Creative therapy is particularly useful for those children who have communication and language difficulties. This approach has proved very effective for selective mutes, those with anxiety and for when putting feelings into words is just hard.

Working with feelings and difficulties creatively enables us to externalise sensation and thought giving us a pathway to better understanding and a deeper knowing.

Sessions are 1:1 in order that the journey of processing may not feel hindered by a parent's presence. In this way it is just like attending therapy as an adult.

The therapeutic relationship is one where the therapist is viewed as a safe other, offering unconditional positive regard in a therapeutic alliance. An alliance where the child is the centre and the therapists role is one of facilitator, rather than authority figure, engaging in a collaborative active approach towards change and understanding.

"The use of metaphors in play therapy is also incredibly powerful because it allows the child to communicate what happened to them in a non-threatening way, such as, 'I wonder how the bear felt when that happened?' instead of asking the child directly."

Hayley Kirchoff, LMHC, NCC

Creative Therapy for Adults & Teens

Sometimes it can be really hard to explain how and why we feel the way we do. We can tie ourselves in knots trying to find the right words causing further frustration and self recrimination.

Creative Therapy offers an opportunity to go beyond "thinking" about how we feel and instead creates connection to our embodied "felt" sense.

Sessions may include sand tray work, drawing, thought mapping, body work or sensory play. We will work together to help bring about a greater level of understanding, enhancing self awareness whilst building resilience and self empowerment.

Initial Assessment

This is time for us to meet and get to know each other.

The best way to find out what Play Matters has to offer and whether it suits you is to actual experience it.

For children I offer a two types of intro session depending on age and presenting issue either with parents present for the whole of a thirty minute session or a forty minute session where, after a brief meet and greet, the session will be conducted 1:1 with your child.

All intro sessions are a chance for us to get to know each other, ask any questions and see how we may work together.

Nothing has to be decided on the day and there is no obligation to continue after this session.