How We Can Help…
At Wildflower Play Therapy, we get to know each child and family’s unique situation and design an approach best suited to their needs.
Below are the main areas of therapeutic support provided by Wildflower Play Therapy. Often, children and families need a combination of some or all of these things at different times. As we journey together, we keep an open line of communication to make sure our approach maintains relevance to the child and family’s needs. Read more about our therapeutic approaches and how to refer your child/family below.
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Humanistic Play Therapy
With roots in Child-Centred and Non-Directive Play Therapy, Humanistic play therapy provides a safe space for children to express themselves in the way they choose. A wide variety of materials are made available to the child to facilitate exploration, creative and emotional expression and symbolism. Children can choose to play in most of the ways they would like and voice their story through their actions. The therapist provides warmth and acceptance while supporting and following the child safely through their journey without imposing judgement or direction. This form of therapy is suitable for children aged between 3 and 13 who may have experienced grief, trauma, social problems, fears and phobias, anger issues, depression, illness or the illness of a loved one, anxiety, toileting issues, ADD, ADHD, Autism, and more.
Studies into Play Therapy show that approaches such as Humanistic which allow the child to be at the centre of their therapeutic journey are effective for treating most common childhood presentations. For more information, see http://evidencebasedchildtherapy.com/meta-analysesreviews/
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Filial Therapy
Filial Therapy was developed to bring child-led therapeutic play approaches into the parent-child relationship to strengthening attachment, communication, acceptance and understanding, offering deep, life-long healing (Axline, 1947; Bratton et al., 2005; Cochran, Nordling & Cochran, 2010; Guerney in Association for Play Therapy, 2018; VanFleet, 2014). This form of therapy is suitable for families with children aged 3 to 12 who might be experiencing a variety of challenges, including social issues, behavioural problems and emotional regulation issues. It has been shown to be an effective therapeutic tool for both assisting children and strengthening families. According to a meta-analysis of 93 studies, it has been shown to be one of the most effective forms of Play Therapy (Bratton et al., 2005; see https://evidencebasedchildtherapy.com/meta-analyses-reviews/).
For more information, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-ejWSzIfB8
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Learn to Play Therapy
Pretend play has been shown to be an important factor in a child’s development of problem solving skills, language skills, emotional intergration, logical sequencing and flexible thinking. However, many children have problems initiating and sustaining pretend play. Learn to Play Therapy focuses on assessing children’s pretend play levels and bridging the gap where skills are behind norms for their developmental age. By building children’s pretend play skills, children are more able to express themselves, understand themselves and the world around them and better relate to their peers. Learn to Play Therapy is suitable for a variety of children: those who have mild deficits in pretend play skills, children with learning difficulties, language delays, developmental delays, Autism or Down Syndrome or neurological issues. For more information, see https://www.learntoplayevents.com/about/
Interested?
If you think your child/family might benefit from our services, we encourage you to get in touch with us to talk more about your situation and what we can offer.
Your child/family will be placed on our waitlist until the next position becomes available. Once we have a space for you, the following will occur:
We will set up an intake meeting to get to know each other better, set some goals, and discuss what our therapeutic journey will look like.
We will then carry out some assessments with your child/family. These assessment allow us to understand your child/families strengths and areas for growth (we conduct these at the start of our therapeutic journey, periodically throughout our journey to check progress and align treatments where necessary, and at the end of our journey to establish just how far we have come).
We will then commence therapy with your child/family, meeting periodically with caregivers to discuss any concerns you may have and talk about your child’s progress.
When your child/family reaches the end of their time with us, we have a celebration together to acknowledge how far they/their family have come through their therapeutic journey. We also discuss future directions and further referrals where necessary. All therapeutic journeys are different and take varying amounts of time according to the individuality of each client. Ending points are determined by the therapist’s discernment of the child/family’s progress in liaison with caregivers.
Click ‘Contact Us’ below or send us an email at info@wildflowerplaytherapy.com to start your journey with us today. We look forward to hearing from you.