Play Therapy

16 Billion offers Play Therapy for children aged 4 to 14 years old with a qualified therapist based in Brighton, run from a private studio and in schools.   

Why Play Therapy?

Play is a child’s natural form of expression and is vital to their overall development and wellbeing. Rather than having to explain in words, children can use play to communicate what is troubling them. This creates pathways for expression when words alone may not capture the depth or complexity of a child’s internal experience.

Who is Play Therapy for? 

Play Therapy is for children who may find play a more natural and comfortable way to express themselves than through words alone.

This includes children who:

  • Process and communicate their experiences through movement, art, and symbolic play

  • Benefit from expressing themselves in ways beyond reciprocal conversation

  • Are navigating emotions, experiences, or situations that are difficult to put into words

Since children often express themselves more authentically through play, the therapist joins the child in their world, on their level.

What is Play Therapy?

Play Therapy is the dynamic process between child and Play Therapist in which the child explores – at their own pace and with their own agenda – their experiences, emotions, and perceptions, past and present, conscious and unconscious, that are shaping their life.

What can Play Therapy help with?

Play Therapy is typically for children ages 4 to 14 who are navigating a wide range of life experiences and ways of being in the world, including:

  • Abuse (emotional, physical, sexual, neglect) 

  • ADHD

  • Anger 

  • Anxiety 

  • Attachment Issues 

  • Autism 

  • Bereavement/Loss 

  • Bullying/being bullied 

  • Communication differences 

  • Developmental differences 

  • Family relationship problems 

  • Lack of confidence 

  • Nightmares 

  • School trauma/ Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA) 

  • Situational non-speaking (previously known as ‘selective mutism’) 

  • Sensory Processing 

  • Separated/Divorced Parents 

  • Burnout

  • Emotional/social withdrawal 

  • Social isolation/exclusion 

  • Trauma 

  • Academic or social challenges

Through Play Therapy, children discover ways to express their thoughts and feelings in ways that work for them, develop understanding of themselves and others, build their regulation toolkit, and explore strategies for navigating challenges  they encounter.

What happens in a Play Therapy session?

Play Therapy takes place in a comfortable safe space, where a few simple boundaries are established for mutual safety, allowing the child free and spontaneous expression of feelings. Because the session is child-led, they can choose how to use their time and safely work through challenges in their own way and at their own pace.  

The Play Therapist can offer a wide range of resources from which the child can choose, supporting creative expression that honours each child’s individual way of engaging with the world. This can include art and craft materials, sand tray play, small-world figures, role play props, musical instruments, puppets, dolls, soft toys, games, sensory materials and found objects.  

The therapist tracks and facilitates the child’s play, joining in or instigating activities when appropriate. Special attention is given to the child’s choice of resources, the types of play they engage in, as well as the style of play, prompting questions that may reveal any hidden worries and concerns. 

What does Play Therapy achieve?

By offering non-judgemental emotional support and containment using the person-centred counselling skills of empathy, active listening, attunement, reflecting and paraphrasing, Play Therapy creates an atmosphere of warmth and acceptance in which a child can:

  • feel safe to explore, develop, and flourish

  • process experiences and develop on their own terms

  • find their own path forward

  • make meaning of their experience

  • develop their own narrative and sense of agency

  • discover new possibilities within themselves

  • build confidence in their unique way of being