I stumbled across play therapy almost by accident when I was searching for support for my own son. At the time, I was struggling and feeling lost. His behaviour, both at school and at home, felt overwhelming and unmanageable. He had bouts of frustration that I didn’t know how to handle or even make sense of. I felt helpless, unsure of how to reach him, and weighed down by the worry of how long we could keep going like that.
Over the next twelve weeks of play therapy, though, I began to witness something that felt almost like magic. My son slowly became more comfortable in himself, a little less angry, and more able to share his world with me in ways that words had never allowed before.
In those sessions, he found the freedom to replay, over and over again, the things that were troubling him most. He would come home and tell me about the battles he had acted out again and again. Our wonderful play therapist helped me to gain strength and understand that this was his way of making sense of feelings that were too big and overwhelming to put into words.
It was a while ago now, and perhaps I do look back on it with rose-coloured glasses, but even so, the changes we saw were nothing short of life-changing for us as a family. His laughter, which had been missing for so long, gradually returned. Home became calmer, and school began to see glimpses of the boy we knew and had always believed was there. And when I speak to other parents, I hear this story again and again, the details are different, but the sense of relief, of hope and the magic of play is always the same.
This is why I went into play therapy myself. I wanted to understand that magic, and more importantly, to share it with other children and families who might be struggling as we once were. Play may look simple and unassuming, but in the right environment and with the right therapeutic support, it holds extraordinary power to heal, transform, and connect.
Written with the consent of my lovely son.
