Helping Children Feel Safe, Seen, and Understood
Child-Centered Play Therapy and Parent Support for families navigating anxiety, behavioral challenges, grief, trauma, and life transitions in NYC.
Why Child-Centered Play Therapy?
Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT) is an evidence-based approach to working with children that has been around for over 80 years. It is the most extensively researched method of play therapy, and it works for all kinds of issues confronting children and their families.
CCPT is aligned with children’s stages of development and based on the truth that meaningful change comes from within. Children, before adolescence, don’t have the words to express what’s going on inside them, so they show it through play. With me, children work in their own time and in their own way to address their struggles. CCPT is not scripted. There is no curriculum, no preset agenda, and no worksheets.
Children often know what they need to work on, but life gets in the way. Therapy gives them the time, tools, and opportunity to work through their challenges through play. I remain therapeutically involved and emotionally attuned throughout the process, but I do not direct what happens in the session. The child leads the therapeutic process.
What is Child-Centered Play Therapy?
Children are not mini-adults, so they’re not able to “talk it out” the way adults can. Children communicate through play long before they are able to fully explain what they are feeling with words. Emotions may show up through behavior, withdrawal, frustration, anxiety, or difficulty navigating everyday situations.
Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT) is a non-directive approach that allows children the time, space, and support to work through challenges in their own way and at their own pace. Rather than following a script, curriculum, or preset agenda, I allow children to lead the therapeutic process through play, creativity, imagination, movement, and connection. If the words “non-directive” send a shiver of fear through you that children can do whatever they want with the therapist, rest assured that my job is to provide limits and guardrails as necessary during our sessions, and I teach parents how to apply them as well.
CCPT is rooted in the knowledge that children often understand more about their struggles than they are able to communicate with words. Therapy gives children the opportunity to express emotions, process difficult experiences, and build healthier ways of coping and relating to the world around them.
A 4-year-old processes emotions very differently than a 10-or 14-year-old, which is why therapy is tailored to support each child’s unique emotional and developmental needs.
Therapy unfolds gradually over time and moves differently for every child. Child-Centered Play Therapy is rooted in trust, safety, and connection, and meaningful healing happens through the therapeutic relationship built within the playroom.
Understanding the Therapy Process
Phase 1: Building Trust
In the early sessions, children are getting to know me, becoming comfortable within the playroom, and learning that therapy is a space where they are accepted, supported, and emotionally safe. Building trust and rapport is one of the most important parts of the therapeutic process. Children need to feel accepted, worthy, and cared for as trust develops within the therapeutic relationship.
Phase 2: Resistance
As therapy deepens, some children may temporarily become more emotional, withdrawn, sensitive, or reactive as they begin working through more difficult feelings and experiences. While this can feel challenging, it is a natural and temporary part of the healing process.
Phase 3: Growth & Emotional Work
Over time, children begin developing stronger emotional awareness, healthier coping skills, improved communication, and greater confidence in themselves and their relationships. Growth and healing often become more visible both inside and outside of the playroom.
Phase 4: Closure & Transition
The final phase of therapy allows children space for reflection, confidence in the progress they have made, and a positive goodbye within the therapeutic relationship. This stage helps children transition out of therapy feeling supported, secure, and proud of the work they have accomplished. For many children, a positive goodbye can become a final and important part of the healing process.
Parent
Support
Parents and guardians are an important part of the therapeutic process. While confidentiality helps children feel emotionally safe within the playroom, parent support provides space for collaboration, guidance, and ongoing communication throughout therapy.
Parent support is provided through consultations that typically take place every five sessions. During these conversations, we discuss your observations, concerns, changes you may be noticing at home or school, and any new challenges that arise. I also share general observations about themes, behavioral patterns, and areas of growth that may be emerging throughout the therapeutic process while still protecting your child’s confidentiality and trust within the therapy space.
Parent support sessions are also an opportunity for me to share some of the tools and approaches being used in therapy so they can be reinforced outside of sessions as well. I see your child for an hour, but you are with them every day. Your involvement and support can play an important role in reinforcing the growth and work happening throughout therapy.
Sometimes, rather than work with a child, I work with their parents in a small group setting. After our initial consultation, if that seems like the most appropriate course, I will offer this option to you.