The Play Therapy Project | Counsellor

The Play Therapy Project

Phone: +61 451 104 566

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05.06.2022 Our latest blog explores howe we can help children with identifying and understanding their feelings. When we are able to recognise our feelings we are more able to manage them in a productive way.

30.05.2022 Does your child experience big emotions? Do these big emotions often lead to big behaviours? It’s okay to feel sad. It’s okay to feel irritated It’s okay to feel out of control All emotions have a part to play in our lives. They all provide us with information about our experience. For a full experience of life, we need to accept a full range of emotions.... How we express our emotions needs to feel safe to the person and to others around us. We don’t want our kids to show their emotions by yelling at others, hitting or breaking valuable stuff. In Play Therapy we work with kids on learning about choices they have in expressing big emotions. We help guide them on the range of options available to them when emotions feel too much. All feelings are acceptable but all behaviours are not. See more

18.05.2022 I was reading last week and came across this quote from anthropologists Kluckhohn and Murry. I love how it sums up our joint humanity, our connectedness to culture and our individuality all in one. Within this quote I see both the freedom to be myself while still belonging. What do you hear when you read this quote?

28.04.2022 So true.

26.04.2022 Regulation is so key to children's behaviour. How much do you know about regulation and what it means to be able to self-regulate? We dive into this question and more on our latest blog post. https://www.theplaytherapyproject.com.au/?p=968

10.04.2022 In my work in schools i have often heard people say, "that child has no self-regulation skills." I don't believe this is usually true.

24.01.2022 In play therapy we are concerned with the working of your child’s brain and nervous system. How well these two systems are working together may heavily impact their ability to understand and work with their own emotions and be in a state of good mental health. The brain and nervous system gather data about what is going on in any given moment and then process it to determine how we should act next. The brain and body have 8 different sensory systems to draw on when collecting this data.

23.01.2022 Are you curious about Play therapy? Have you got any questions about what it is? or the benefits for children? If you have the question we're sure someone else does too! Please share your questions with us in the comments or on our website.

23.01.2022 Another great quote on the power of play.

23.01.2022 Are Your Kids Ready to Go Back? It’s like the first day of school all over again! Or at least it is likely to be for the kids. Victoria’s Foundation Year 2 children return to the classroom next week having spent almost the same amount of time in remote learning as they have at school in 2020. For parents it might feel like you are sending them to somewhere they have been before. For the kids it may feel like they are starting again for the first time. They are not returning...Continue reading

22.01.2022 Children are emotional creatures at the best of times. They can be content one instant, excited the next and shortly after quickly melting down into an uncontrollable mess. Their feelings seem to flow and change along with each moment. Sometimes circumstances can amplify their emotional experience. These might be challenges they face, unpredictable events, causes of stress or experiences of change and loss. In these challenges the flow of their emotions becomes more of a roll...er-coaster, full of loops and seemingly unpredictable bends. The pandemic is a huge, life changing situation that is plunging most families and children, into an altered reality. It is a situation where many are feeling a deep sense of loss. Plans for the year have been put on hold. The normal everyday routines we have stuck to for years are thrown into chaos. The people we are so used to seeing and visiting are only available to see on zoom. As with adults, children too have had their worlds turned upside down. No hanging out with friends, no playdates, no school. For those living in areas where Coronavirus is less prevalent life may be moving more like normal but they may still be feeling the loss of freedoms such as being able to travel and be with loved ones in other states or overseas. Check out our latest blog to read more on the stages of grief for children and ways that parents can support the process. Let us know is your child feeling the losses experienced within lock-down? Which stage of grief do you think they are spending the most time in? https://www.theplaytherapyproject.com.au/?p=830

20.01.2022 Excited to see some new Business cards arrived. These ones have the logo and address for the Play Therapy Hub location. The Friday location of The Play Therapy Project. If you or anyone you know has children who may be feeling challenged and struggling with emotions and behavior in the current climate, please use these details and get in touch to find out if Play Therapy would be a good fit for your child and family.

19.01.2022 An interesting article shared this morning by the Synergetic Play Therapy Institute. Can digging into the causes of and redefining how we look at and label mental health challenges such as Anxiety and ADHD affect the treatment approaches and their success?

19.01.2022 So true. We sometimes tell people to trust their instincts. When we say this we are telling them to trust that their feelings and emotions can guide them. This is not always easy. It can be challenging for a person to trust themselves if they have been told to ignore their feelings or that their feelings are wrong in some way. Play Therapy helps children unlock their instincts. Play Therapy offers children the opportunity to explore their individual emotional response to situations and experiences. It builds the child’s capacity to recognise, accept and mindfully respond to their feelings. It allows them to find the truth in their emotions and learn to trust what they are being told from inside. Image Reposted from @Australianpsychologist

16.01.2022 Did you learn at school that we have 5 sensory systems? Vision, Auditory (hearing) Olfactory (smell)Taste and a Tactile sense? Well actually it is now accepted that we have at least 8!. In addition to the well known 5 we also have the Vestibular, Proprioceptive and Interoceptive systems. Our sensory systems are responsible for providing data to the brain about the environment and all things needed for us to interact with the world. The first five provide us with a lot of information about our external experience- what is outside our bodies that we need to be aware of. The last 3 provide more information about our body itself and what’s going on inside that we need to know about. .

15.01.2022 Toys are an important and memorable part of childhood. the toys that belonged to us and the ones that we longed to have. What toy did you desperately want, when you were a kid, but never got to own?

14.01.2022 Your ready to send your kids back to school, are they ready to go? Check out our latest blog post for some strategies to help prepare kids for their first day and weeks back in the classroom.

12.01.2022 Using a bit of imagination, kids are able to express their feelings, experiences and perspective through play.

12.01.2022 Did you know that Play Therapy is all about helping your child’s brain? In Play Therapy we have a gentle approach to creating and reinforcing positive connections in the brain. We help build new associations and possibilities that a child can draw on when experiencing challenge and moments of stress. We are getting different parts of a child’s brain to light up, and work together. As a child grows these new skills in the playroom and the connection becomes stronger, the ...child begins to use them in wider aspects of their lives. This quote by Dr Dan Siegel captures this process perfectly

11.01.2022 Messy Play Why the Brain Needs It I remember one of my first maternal health mothers group sessions when my son was born. I remember a whole group of new mothers nodding and agreeing with each other that they were not fans of messy play. They agreed that they didn’t like paint, or playdough, sand or trays of coloured pasta. The set-up, the play the resulting clean-up, they were not fans of it at all. I remember one mother declaring that Messy play was something that childr...Continue reading

11.01.2022 At The Play Therapy Project we recognise that mental health challenges impact the lives of many Australian children and families. This fact is evidenced by 2 separate surveys that explored the prevalence of mental health amongst Australian children and adolescents aged 4-17. The survey’s also collected data on which mental health conditions were most common in these aged groups. Below are some of the findings: Almost one in seven (13.9%) 4-17 year-olds were assessed as havin...g mental disorders in the previous 12 months. This is equivalent to 560,000 Australian children and adolescents. Males were more likely than females to have experienced mental disorders in the 12 months prior to the survey (16.3% compared with 11.5%). ADHD was the most common mental disorder in children and adolescents (7.4%), followed by anxiety disorders (6.9%), major depressive disorder (2.8%) and conduct disorder (2.1%). Almost one third (30.0% or 4.2% of all 4-17 year-olds) of children and adolescents with a disorder had two or more mental disorders at some time in the previous 12 months. https://www1.health.gov.au//p/Content/mental-pubs-m-child2 At The Play Therapy Project we see not only the mental health challenges faced by our children and families but also the solutions and the possibilities of pathways to better health. Our mission at The Play Therapy Project is to shed light on the status of mental health in children, to support the sharing of knowledge and strategies for positive mental health outcomes and to offer evidence based interventions for children’s mental health challenges.

10.01.2022 With kids home at the moment and so much to do my house is really taking a bit of a hit. Play and learning can be pretty messy! Keep an eye out on our Facebook in the next week for some information on the importance of messy play and tips for making it manageable and enjoyable.

08.01.2022 Beyond the Excitement Mental Health Challenges of a Return to School I am hearing excitement from many parents and children in the last few weeks about a return to school. The preps- Year 2’s in Victoria have successfully returned and the rest of the year levels will soon be following. Parents are looking forward to not doing schoolwork and having less interruptions to work commitments. Kids are relieved to be able to See their teachers, be with their friends and enjoy the ...Continue reading

06.01.2022 New Blog Post up - Can You Please Sit Still? Why is my child always moving? The Nervous System and Movement Regulation After being my child’s teacher or co-facilitator of learning for a while, I have watched him fiddle, jiggle, and move when I wanted him to do a learning task. It caused me some frustration. I really wanted him to just sit still and do the activities set by the school....Continue reading

06.01.2022 New blog up on the website. ast Thursday was R U OK day. This is a national day to remind us all to ask others about how they are feeling and open up the conversation about mental health. It got me thinking, How do we ask the youngest members of our society, R U OK?

04.01.2022 Appointments still available under stage 4 restrictions. Contact us now to find out more.

04.01.2022 Too Stressed To Learn The 3R’s to keeping the Learning Brain Switched On It’s hard to know how much schoolwork we should be pushing our kids to complete right now. If you are like me, you are probably wondering what school activities should be prioritised. Whether the quantity of activities completed is important or which activities will support them to academic success in the long run. And, the biggest question, ...Continue reading

04.01.2022 We are so excited to join the team! The Play Therapy Project will be available for Play Therapy sessions on Friday’s at The Play Therapy Hub in Preston. Our first day will be the the 17th July. https://playtherapyhub.com/ Contact us now to book an initial consultation or request more information.

02.01.2022 Our ancestors relied on instincts and gut feelings to alert them to danger. It was a matter of survival. Still to this day our emotional responses occur faster than our cognitive/ thinking responses. This prepares our bodies to act. In an ideal situation, our body gets ready and our thinking brain is contacted to assess the situation before action occurs. Particularly in children, whose cognitive, thinking brain is still under development, emotional responses often lead to reactions before the thinking brain is consulted.

01.01.2022 Have you ever wondered what emotions really are? What are these things that make us laugh and make us cry? Emotions have to do with the flow of energy through our bodies. They are feelings and sensations that provide important information to our brains. They provide us with guidance on how we are interpreting different situations. They guide our reactions. They are a huge part of the human experience.

01.01.2022 Here's a bit of a snap-shot based on our blog post a couple of weeks ago. Hands-on, messy and sensory play is so important for children's development and how comfortable their brain becomes in navigating their sensory world as children, teenagers and then adults. The full blog post can be found on our Facebook page and website.