PLAY THERAPY
🌿 Non-Directive Play Therapy: A Journey to Healing and Growth
Non-directive play therapy is a transformative, child-centered approach grounded in the belief that children possess an innate capacity to heal when given the right environment. Through the natural language of play, children are invited into a safe, unstructured space where they can explore their emotions, experiences, and inner world at their own pace.
This approach honors the child’s autonomy, allowing them to take the lead—choosing how to engage with materials, express feelings, and navigate challenges in a way that feels safe and authentic. It is through this freedom that deep healing begins.
Play becomes a gateway to regulation, and through the therapeutic relationship, children learn co-regulation—an essential step toward building self-regulation. The playroom becomes a space where trust is built, emotional expression is welcomed, and growth unfolds organically. With a focus on the roots of change, non-directive play therapy creates a profoundly respectful, holistic space that nurtures the child’s mind, body, and spirit.
🌱 Creating a Safe Container: The Structure Behind the Sessions
Safety and structure are key components of the therapeutic process. That’s why I work with children in sets of six sessions, intentionally designed to support both the child and their caregivers throughout the journey.
Each set begins with a parent session, where we explore the presenting concerns and complete the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)—a valuable assessment that offers insight into where your child is psychologically as we begin. While the play sessions remain non-directive, allowing your child to process at their own pace, the SDQ gives us a lens through which we can observe the shifting roots of emotional development.
Each set of six sessions closes with a review parent session, including a re-administration of the SDQ to track progress and reflect on changes. This cyclical process ensures we are supporting your child in a grounded, informed, and collaborative way. From the very start, we can also begin to identify how many sessions may be ideal to support your child’s healing in a sustainable and meaningful way.
I had the privilege of working directly with one of the creators of the SDQ in the UK, co-developing what was described as a “cutting-edge” approach to tracking emotional gains and creating a safe container for therapeutic work to unfold. This system continues to support the work I do today—offering clarity, direction, and a respectful balance between professional insight and a child’s unique, unfolding process.
Our Therapeutic Environment at CLARITY
At CLARITY, our spaces are thoughtfully designed to support children’s emotional healing and exploration. Each element, from curated toys to art materials, sand trays, and symbolic figures, is chosen to foster a sense of safety and creative freedom. These tools serve as bridges for children to access and express their inner world. Empowering children to embark on a journey of self-discovery.
