Play therapy is to children what talk therapy is to adults. Play is a child’s language. Adolescents and adults use languages like English, Spanish, and French to express themselves. However, no matter what verbal language children speak, children express themselves best through their natural language—the language of play. In the playroom, toys, games and activities are used like words. Children are provided therapeutic toys to enable them to say with the toys what they have difficulty saying with words. They can use dolls, puppets, paints, or other toys to say what they think or how they feel. Many times difficult things happen in life, and even adults have difficulty understanding or explaining the events or their feelings about the events. It is easy to see why children, who lack the verbal skills of an adult, find it even more difficult. Play therapy allows children the opportunity to work through, heal, and move past the difficult times in their lives. It does all this in the most efficient, effective, and child focused manner available. So, for most childhood problems, play therapy is the most affordable way to help your child resolve his or her issues and best of all, not only does it work wonderfully, children love it! Through Play Therapy children learn about themselves and their surroundings, capabilities, and limitations. They learn new skills such as: how to handle anger and frustration, heal and work through difficult times and increase their self-esteem and ability to communicate. If a child needs counseling, play therapy is usually the answer. In fact, extensive research strongly supports the effectiveness of play therapy on most social, emotional, behavioral, and educational problems. Some of these problems include depression, anger, ADHD, anxiety/fears, conduct disorders, abuse issues, aggression, post-traumatic stress disorders, low self-esteem, poor social skills, impulsivity, learning difficulties, divorce issues, coping skills issues, handling trauma, grief, and many other childhood challenges. - Counseling Corner Inc.