Play Therapy for Children
Helping Children Grow | Supporting Parents Along the Way
Children don’t always have the words to explain what they are feeling. Instead, emotions often show up through behavior, play, relationships, worries, meltdowns, withdrawal, or difficulty with transitions.
Play therapy gives children a developmentally appropriate way to communicate, process experiences, build emotional skills, and feel understood.
At Topanga Integrative Psychotherapy, my approach to working with children combines play therapy with ongoing parent support and consultation. Because meaningful change rarely happens in the therapy room alone, I work collaboratively with parents to better understand their child and help create change at home, at school, and within the family.
What Is Play Therapy?
For adults, therapy often happens through conversation. For children, play can serve as a natural language.
Through toys, imaginative play, art, sand tray, games, stories, and creative activities, children can communicate experiences and emotions that may be difficult to put into words.
A child may not be able to say, “I feel overwhelmed,” “I don't feel safe,” or “I'm worried something bad will happen.” Instead, we may see those experiences expressed through behavior or recurring themes in play.
Within a safe therapeutic relationship, play therapy can help children develop emotional awareness, coping skills, flexibility, confidence, and new ways of responding to difficult experiences.
When Can Play Therapy Help?
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Anxiety, fears, or excessive worries
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Big emotions and frequent meltdowns
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Anger, aggression, or challenging behaviors
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Difficulty with transitions and change
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Separation or divorce
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Grief and loss
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Trauma or stressful life experiences
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Perfectionism or low self-confidence
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Social or peer difficulties
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School-related stress
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Family changes or conflict
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Difficulty expressing emotions
An Integrative Approach to Child & Family Therapy
Every child is different, so therapy should not look exactly the same for every child.
I integrate child-centered and therapeutic play, sand tray, creative activities, storytelling and games with developmentally appropriate evidence-based approaches.
When appropriate, I also incorporate parent-based interventions, including strategies informed by SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions) for children struggling with anxiety, OCD, fears, and avoidance.
Some children benefit from having considerable freedom to lead their play. Others benefit from more structured interventions and direct support around anxiety, emotional regulation, coping, flexibility, or behavior.
Treatment is adapted to the individual child and family.
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A Space Designed for Children
My Calabasas office includes a dedicated children's playroom with toys, imaginative-play materials, art activities, games, and sand tray.
For many children, sitting across from an adult and being asked to talk about their feelings simply isn't the most natural way to communicate.
The playroom gives children another way in.
Most importantly, I work to create a relationship in which children can feel safe, accepted, understood, and increasingly able to explore difficult experiences at their own pace.
Getting Started: We Begin With the Parents
When possible, I begin the process with a parent consultation before meeting with your child.
This gives us time to talk openly about your concerns without asking your child to sit through an adult conversation about their difficulties. We can discuss your child's developmental and family history, current challenges, strengths, school experience, significant life events, and what you have already tried.
Sometimes parents know exactly what has been difficult for their child. Other times, they simply notice that something has changed, their child seems more anxious, angry, sensitive, withdrawn, or overwhelmed.
Part of our work is understanding what the behavior may be communicating, rather than focusing only on stopping the behavior itself.
הורים יקרים מה שלומכם?
יהיה הגיוני להניח שאתם בעיקר מותשים.
כאשר ילד מתקשה, כך גם הוריו.
המעבר להורות והתפקיד ההורי הם אחד מאירועים החיים המשמעותיים והדורשניים ביותר. הורות יכולה לזמן אתגרים יומיומיים ושינויים בזהויות ובאישיות המתהווה גם עבור הילד וגם ההורה.
לעיתים, ניווט הציפיות למול המציאות מצריך סיוע מקצועי. אני כאן כדי להתבונן יחדיו, לשאול שאלות ולהתכוונן לצרכים הייחודים שלך כהורה על מנת לאפשר לך להתחיל לבחור את הבחירות הטובות ביותר עבור המשפחה שלך.
אני מלמדת כישורים, אסטרטגיות וטיפים פרקטים שיסעו להפחית את המתח והקונפליקטים בביתכם.
המערכת המשפחתית היא יחידה התומכת בצמיחה, בהתפתחות של הילד ומספקת ביטחון ותחושת שייכות. בייעוץ נפעל ללמוד כיצד אנו יכולים לטפח רווחה נפשית, להוות מודל לויסות חברתי-רגשי ולקדם ביטחון עצמי והערכה עצמית.
תוך שימוש בגישות של הורות מודעת (conscious parenting) ובוויסות משותף של ההורים והילד, אני מסייעת להורים להתבונן פנימה אל עצמם, לראות את צרכיהם ואת צרכי הילד, את השאיפות והתקוות, להבהיר מטרות וערכים בחינוך חינוך ילדיהם, ולחזק את הקשר הורה-ילד.
אני רואה בעבודה עם משפחות וילדים כמוקד מרכזי בעבודתי הטיפולית. צרו עימי קשר וביחד נוכל להבין איך ניתן לתמוך בצרכים של ילדכם ושלכם כהורים.
