Play Therapy Questions & Answers

Kate from South Australia emailed me the following question: "I am wondering what your thoughts are on children bringing in their own soft toys into sessions. I have a new client who has been bringing in his favourite toy and including it into his play. This has...

In this episode, I answer a listener's question about supervision. Jeremy from the UK emailed me with the following question: "I am completing my training in the UK and I love every moment in my playroom, it’s a bit small but I’m working on that. We are encouraged to...

Cindy from Australia emailed me with a questions asking how I handle children who shoot and use swords on me. Podcast HQ: https://www.playtherapypodcast.com Play Therapy Training HQ: https://www.playtherapynow.com Email me: [email protected] Follow me on...

Jeremy from Illinois emailed me with the following question: "I have a six-year-old client who is getting angry and aggressive at school. History of witnessing domestic violence. I have had five sessions with him, and I would say we hit the resistance phase right on...

I talk to a lot of play therapists, and I review a lot of sessions. I get a version of a question from everyone I interact with who is looking for advice in their play therapy practice: What is the one thing I need to know to be a better play therapist? After thinking...

Jen in the UK emailed me with the following question: "I have several recent new clients who are choosing to be silent colorers in my room. I'm spending a lot of time tracking coloring behaviour and wondering if I'm doing anything at all! That's not strictly true, as...

Listener Ethan emailed me with another question. This time he asked my opinion on how I explain to parents why I allow cursing in the playroom. This is a fantastic question, and I'll do my best to explain the CCPT response and viewpoint. I'll also give you tips for...

This week's question comes from Yanna in Massachusetts. She poses the question: "I have been working with a 6 year old girl for over 6 months now, my interventions have consisted of child-centered play therapy with emphasis on promoting interoceptive skills. I feel...

IAlicia from Colorado wrote me an email saying "My background is actually Early Intervention, working with families with kids birth to three, so if you feel like discussing your thoughts on Filial/Child-Centered for toddlers, that would be amazing!!" So in this...

As a result of listening to the podcast on aggression in the playroom, listener Ethan emailed me "I was wondering if you have worked with a child who has ever played out the aggressive part but never seemed to move towards the nurture part?" In this episode, I answer...

Tricia emailed me the following question: "Hello! I am currently a graduate student in mental health counseling in the state of New York. Unfortunately there aren’t many resources for play therapy in the upstate area. I’m wondering if you could share your knowledge on...

Listener Sandi from Iowa emailed me this question: "I am hoping you will assist me with a common issue I find in the playroom. Please share an example of how you respond to a child who doesn’t want to leave the playroom..." Thank you so much for emailing me this...

In this episode, I take on a question that was asked of my by listener Rachel. She asked: "I’m wondering what you do in situations where you have concerns of abuse/neglect. Do you ever take a different role with the child for the purposes of safety or assessment? Do...

In this episode I respond to a listener, Rachel, who asked "I would be interested to learn more about child-centered play therapy with older kids (like 11-14). You’ve mentioned before at your facility that you do kind of a 'modified' version for older kids and I would...

Last week I had, arguably, the most challenging session with a child that I've ever had to deal with. I've had a lot of questions from listeners about how to handle aggressive play, so I thought this would be good to debrief with you to explain how child-centered play...

In this episode, I give my input to a listener who emailed me about their client's Mom, that was interested in sibling sessions. The listener wanted to know if there was anything that I would mention or do. I have done quite a few sibling and group sessions, and I...

In this week's Q&A episode, I give my take on a listener's question: "I'd love to hear your take on the controversy of using aggressive toys in general." I break down my commentary into the following topics: - Thematically speaking, why aggressive toys are important -...

Jen, a listener from the UK, wrote me an email and asked "I’m wondering if you might be up for doing a podcast on your take on the use of games- uno, table football and guess who are regulars in my sessions and I would love to hear your perspective. There also seems...

In this episode, I'm taking a break from the regular curriculum to answer some questions that have come in from listeners. One of the questions that I get consistently is what do I do when I'm not supported as a play therapist at my work? So I talk about how to handle...