How Play Therapy Supports Children's Mental Health

What is Play Therapy?

When parents first hear about play therapy, a common reaction is something like: "That sounds nice — but how is playing going to help my child?"

It's a fair question. And the answer says something important about how children actually work.

Children are not small adults. They don't process difficult experiences by talking them through - at least, not primarily. What they do instead is play. Play is how children make sense of the world, work through confusing feelings, rehearse scary scenarios, and communicate what they don't yet have words for. It has always been their natural language.

Play therapy meets children in that language.

What actually happens in play therapy?

In a play therapy session, a child is offered a carefully selected range of materials - sand tray, miniature figures, art supplies, puppets, building materials, storytelling props. They are invited to play freely, with scaffolding and support from the therapist.

To an outside observer, it can look remarkably ordinary. A child building a scene in a sandbox. A child making a family of animals out of clay. A child drawing something dark and then covering it over.

But beneath the surface, something significant is happening.

Children will often play out, symbolically, the very things they cannot say directly. A child who has experienced loss might play out a character being left behind - over and over - until something in them begins to resolve. A child who is anxious might create an entire world in the sand tray where they are in complete control. A child who has been through something frightening might use puppets to tell a version of the story, safely distanced from the reality of it.

The play is the therapy. Not a warm-up to it. Not a way of passing the time until the "real work" starts. The play itself is how the work happens.

A warm and inviting playroom designed for child therapy, with colorful toys and soft furnishings creating a safe and nurturing environment.

What changes for children in play therapy?

The shift I most often see in children who have engaged well in play therapy is that something that was confusing or scary begins to make sense.

Not necessarily that it goes away. Not that the child suddenly has the words for it. But there's a settling - a sense that the child has found a way to hold something that felt unmanageable. Their play becomes less chaotic or repetitive. They seem more at ease in themselves. Parents often notice it before the child can name it.

Over time, children in play therapy typically develop:

• A greater capacity to recognise and name their own feelings

• More confidence in expressing what they need

• Better emotional regulation — less likely to be overwhelmed by big feelings

• A stronger sense of self — who they are, what they feel, what matters to them

• Improved relationships — at home, at school, with peers

For children who have experienced trauma, grief, family change, or significant anxiety, play therapy can be particularly meaningful. It offers a space where they don't have to be okay, don't have to perform, and don't have to find the words - they just have to show up and play.

What role do parents play?

Play therapy works best when parents are part of the process.

I always meet with parents separately - before, during, and at the end of treatment - to share observations, explore what's happening at home, and think together about how to support the child between sessions. Parents don't need to observe sessions directly (in fact, for most children, privacy in the therapy space is important), but they are never just waiting in the background.

Some of the most significant shifts in a child's wellbeing come not from what happens in the therapy room, but from changes in how the family around them begins to understand and respond to them.

Is play therapy right for my child?

Play therapy is suitable for most children aged approximately 3 to 12, and can be helpful for a wide range of concerns - including anxiety, big emotions and emotional regulation difficulties, trauma, grief and loss, family change or separation, behavioural challenges, and the impact of neurodiversity (including ADHD and Autism).

It is not a quick fix, and it is not always linear. Some weeks a child will seem to make a leap forward; others, they will revisit old territory. This is normal - and often necessary.

If you're wondering whether play therapy might be helpful for your child, you're welcome to get in touch. We can have a conversation about what's going on for your child and whether this approach feels like the right fit.

Shivonne Cammell is a Registered Play Therapist Supervisor and Accredited Mental Health Social Worker specialising in child and family counselling in Wheelers Hill, VIC and online.

Contact Shivonne