What is play therapy?

Play therapy provides a safe environment for children to express their feelings and gain a sense of control to better cope with medical experiences. Play therapy is evidence-based, which means that research has shown that it’s a safe and effective treatment.

Just as adults talk to their therapists about their problems and concerns, children use play to communicate confusion and stress in their world. In our sessions, children use play and toys to express their thoughts and feelings. As children play, our highly trained play therapists provide reflections that help them understand how they're feeling and what they're thinking.

The play therapy program at Children’s Health is designed for children who are developmentally 2 to 10 years old, have a medical diagnosis and have at least one of the following issues:

• Psychosocial concerns, such as effects on relationships with family, friends and others

• Psychological concerns, such as anxiety, depression or low self-esteem

• Difficulty coping and adjusting to a chronic illness or hospital stay

• Anxiety surrounding the hospital environment and medical staff

• Behavioral issues, such as acting out or low frustration tolerance

• Difficulty following medical advice and treatment plans, such as refusal to take medication or cooperate with care

What are the benefits of play therapy?

Play therapy helps children manage fear, stress, frustration and other feelings that medical issues can cause. Our specialized play therapy can help your child understand, adjust to and feel more comfortable with:

• Chronic (long-term) illness

• Hospital stays and doctor visits

• Tests, treatments and other procedures, including surgery

Through the unique experience of play therapy and the special relationship with a caring, safe and accepting therapist, your child can develop better coping skills. Research shows that play therapy can help reduce:

• Symptoms of anxiety or depression

• Challenging behaviors

• Challenges of managing developmental delays

• Reactions to traumatic events

• Difficulties in close relationships due to stresses of chronic illness

• Self-concept issues, including problems with self-image and self-esteem

• Social-emotional challenges

What sets the Children’s Health Consult Play Therapy Program apart?

Since 1996, our play therapy program has supported the mental health of children and families. Our skilled team sees children who come from all over North Texas for play therapy, either in or out of the hospital. Highlights of our program include:

Specialized team with psychology expertise

Our team includes a licensed professional counselor-supervisor (LPC-S) and licensed clinical social worker-supervisor (LCSW-S) who are also registered Play Therapist-Supervisors™. We have years of advanced training, experience and certifications in child and parent therapies, including child-centered play therapy and child-parent relationship training.

We work closely with your child’s medical care providers and other psychosocial team members to coordinate their care. Our combined support makes it easier for your child to follow their treatment plan and cope with its challenges.

Personalized inpatient and outpatient play therapy

We tailor each child’s care plan based on their medical diagnosis, treatment plan, developmental age and abilities. Our therapists choose toys, games and other play materials for each child based on their individual needs.

At Children’s Medical Center Dallas, our therapists can bring a portable play kit to your child's hospital room for bedside sessions. We also provide sessions in our outpatient play therapy playroom for children managing medically complex conditions at home. Either format provides children with ways to experiment and practice a variety of coping skills.

Training option for parents and guardians

Our therapists offer child-parent relationship training, evidence-based treatment that teaches parents and guardians to better manage behavior issues and support their children emotionally. In 10 convenient, virtual group sessions, you’ll learn play therapy skills, including choice-giving, feelings-reflection and limit-setting, that you can practice with your child.

Access to comprehensive mental health care at Children’s Health

If your child needs additional mental health care and services, our therapists can connect you with experts in other departments. Learn more about all the services we offer in our Pediatric Psychiatry and Psychology program.

Play therapy training for community therapists

We’re the only hospital that has received the designation of Approved Provider from the Association for Play Therapy. We use this designation to provide both virtual and in-person training for community play therapists to earn continuing education credits.

Through continuing education, we share our deep expertise with the next generation of play therapists so they can better serve children in the community. Play therapy trainees receive psychology education, professional mentoring and hands-on training at Children’s Health. We supervise trainees as they work with patients, so your child always receives care from our certified and licensed Registered Play Therapist-Supervisors™.