Play Therapy
It is with great pleasure we get to announce that we have collaborated with Lisa Wilson of Play2heal Therapies to provide you with her services of Play Therapy and Therapeutic Life Story Work.
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Lisa is a registered member of BACP, membership number 406445, and an associate of Play Therapy UK, member 201601565.
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Lisa's aim is to provide a free and protected space for your child to express themselves through play, with a therapeutic aim.
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Play2heal Therapies
Telephone: 07512790297
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Email: play2heal.therapies@gmail.com
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Website: https://www.play2healtherapies.co.uk/
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Play Therapy
Play Therapy is a developmentally appropriate method for children because they respond more to non-verbal than verbal discussion.
For children play is a natural form of self-expression, a medium for experimentation, communication and learning and when children don't know how to express themselves verbally, they show it with action.
Play therapy helps children play out how they are feeling so they eventually find the words.
Children learn to understand the world and their place in it through play. It’s where they’re free to act out their inner feelings and deepest emotions. The use of toys in the play room allows children to create metaphors which helps them to express feelings symbolically.
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The method used is a non directive approach which is less structured. The child is able to choose toys and games as they see fit. They're free to play in their own way with few instructions or interuptions.
Sessions must take place in an environment where the child feels safe and where there are few limitations. The therapist may use techniques that involve:
• creative visualization
• storytelling
• role-playing
• puppets, stuffed animals, and masks
• dolls, action figures
• arts and crafts
• water and sand play
• blocks and construction toys
• dance and creative movement
• musical play
Therapeutic Life Story Work
Life Story Work is a way to help care experienced children to make sense of their past and understand the journey of their identity.
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What is Life Story Work?
Traditional Life Story Work is usually a short book prepared for a child who is adopted / fostered to help them to gain an understanding of why they came into Local Authority care. This workbook often contains inaccurate / confusing information for the child, leaves too many unanswered questions, does not deal with the child’s traumas and fails to tell the story from the child and birth parents perspective.
Therapeutic Life Story Work goes much further; it is a Therapeutic “process” undertaken in a sensitive and gentle approach facilitated by a trained therapeutic life story practitioner working with both child and Carer as a triad.
This impartial direct work provides the child with vital information about their past, works through traumas, helps them to make sense of current behaviours and feelings whilst making links with their history. This approach also helps the Carer to understand the impact a child’s history has on current behaviours and throughout the process this will help strengthen attachments, build up trust and support the child to make positive change for their future.
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How is Therapeutic Life Story Work Delivered?
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The Life Story Worker researches the young persons life so that they can provide accurate information, accessing children’s service files and other necessary documents to build up a picture of the child’s history, this usually includes interviewing birth family and previous Foster Carers.
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Direct work sessions with the child and Carer using the child's researched history and their own memories creatively recorded on rolls of wallpaper using drawings, eco maps, fact and fiction exercises, time lines etc. The wallpaper will also include “feelings/loss/change” work. The end stage is the creation of a Life story Book, but the most important part of the process is what is recorded on the wallpaper.
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