Play Therapy recognises the basic fact that up to age of about seven or eight, children cannot use words to think with as effectively as adults and older children. The natural way that children learn, communicate and express their emotions is, in common with the young of all warm-blooded mammals, through play. Play Therapy is a proven way to help children who have experienced emotional, sexual or physical abuse and neglect. Family disruptions such as divorce or bereavement are other common factors which may prompt the child to show a pattern of behavioural difficulties which, as adults, we would normally try to resolve through conversation. Merely talking to a child who is obviously suffering emotionally is not likely to succeed on its own because 'before the age of seven or eight, their use of language is similar to that of adults speaking a tongue which is slightly known to them'. Lowenfield 1988.

Used with skill and patience by a qualified and experienced practitioner, Play Therapy is a fantastic healing tool. It is a dynamic process in which the child is encouraged to recognise and explore the issues affecting his or her life. The therapist works with the child; at the child's pace, and to the child's agenda using the same metaphors and symbols that children use to explore their lives. The pictures, games and stories used by the child to express feelings are reflected back in ways which enable the child to gain insight into their behaviour and consider the possible results arising from change. This way the therapist is led by the child and, through a process of patient permissiveness, encourages the child to make their own choices and find their own future direction.

Because a warm, respectful and friendly rapport is established from the outset, and because the child is accepted exactly as he or she is, the progress made during Play Therapy is always seen as the child's own idea. This progress is gradual, incremental, unhurried and produces real and lasting change for the better.