How does Play Therapy Help Young Clients Experiencing Depression?
When parents ask for support in how to tell their child they will be visiting a therapist, my easy explanation typically works: “A Play Therapist helps kids when their feelings get too big. Sometimes kid’s mad gets too big and it causes problems for the kid and the people around them. Sometimes a kid’s sad gets too big and it feels too hard for the kid to move around with all that sadness. And sometimes a kid’s scared gets too big and the kid needs help feeling safe. Therapists help kids shrink big feelings so they can get back to being a kid.”
Oftentimes parents reach out for help when they notice a difference in their child’s behaviors. Paying attention to your child’s behaviors is key to understanding how your child is feeling about life. Concerning and sometimes challenging behaviors get a parents’ attention and when parents wonder about the reason behind the child’s behavior, it can illuminate stressors the child does not have the skills or experience to manage. Play Therapy not only provides a space for children to express those stressors, but it also gives them time with a trusted adult to grow and practice the skills necessary to overcome stressors.
Hermine Hug-Hellmuth was an Austrian Psychotherapist who first used the term Play Therapy in the early 20th century. In the 1920’s, Psychotherapist Melanie Klein understood a child’s play as an expression of the child’s language in symbolism. For more than a hundred years, play therapy has been used to understand children’s emotions and behaviors and to help children recover from stressors and develop healthier ways of being. Research over the years has proven specific theories of play therapy are effective in treating various types of emotional, behavioral, and mental health challenges in childhood.
Approaches to play therapy vary from what’s called Child Centered (non-directive) Play Therapy (developed by Virginia Axline) and Directive Play Therapy techniques. Most clinicians at Creative Family Counseling use a combination of both non-directive and directive techniques to help children “shrink” feelings that have gotten too big. Depending on which of the three big feelings (mad, sad, or scared) your child is specifically struggling with, interventions will be tailored to your child’s specific treatment plan.
For example, when children have experienced a loss or an incident which causes the experience of grief, the child’s behavior will likely change. Since behavior is an inside look at how your child is coping with a stressor, we can understand that your child is having a hard time coping.
Grief can present itself in the following manner in childhood:
- Episodes of crying
- Challenging behaviors such as defiance or outbursts
- Withdrawing
- Blaming themselves
- Restlessness
- Distractedness or difficulty concentrating
- Wanting to be close to their caregivers, or clinginess
- Changes in eating and sleeping behaviors
- Regression of previously mastered skills, such as accidents when they were previously potty trained
Grief can sometimes develop into a Depressive Episode in children. Additionally, children who experience a traumatic event or ongoing exposure to intense stressors (such as bullying) can also develop Depressive Episodes.
A Depressive Episode in Childhood can include the following noticeable changes in your child:
- Noticeable changes in personality, such as previously being outgoing but becoming shy and withdrawn
- Sad or mad mood lasting weeks or longer
- More often having tantrums or outbursts
- Irritability
- Self critical statements
- Changes in sleep (sleeping too much or difficulty falling or staying asleep)
- Changes in appetite (eating a lot more or not eating enough)
- Night terrors
- Stomachaches
- Poor academic performance
- Loss of interest in previously enjoyed activities
- Changes in energy (becoming lethargic or hyperactive)
- Reports of not wanting to live or suicidal thoughts
- Self injurious behaviors
When a child presents with symptoms of depression or grief, a therapist using Play Therapy has the tools to develop a treatment plan which will help them feel safe in the therapy room, trust their therapist, process their feelings, work through stressors, and try on & practice different ways to manage their feelings and stressors. A Therapist will develop a treatment plan with specific interventions to help your child work through their own healing. This helps children develop confidence in managing big feelings such as sad (depression is a VERY BIG sad!) and also creates preventative resources for the next time they experience big stressors or big feelings. So Play Therapy helps with the current issue but also helps with future issues by giving them resources throughout the therapy that they can draw from the rest of their lives!
The field of Play Therapy continues to be a field influenced by research, neuroscience and developments in psychotherapy and childhood development. It’s exciting to be a part of the Play Therapy community and provide the transformative space that play therapy provides young clients.
