Therapies for children and young people in Cornwall

What is Play Therapy?

In play therapy, children receive emotional support and have the time and space to understand their own feelings and thoughts. Playing out traumatic or difficult life experiences can help to make sense of the past and to cope better with the future. Children often find it difficult to talk about their feelings and play is the language they use to express themselves. Play therapy offers them the chance to make sense of their world.

What is Play and Creative Arts Therapy?

The play therapist will include in their toolkit;

art materials such as paper, pens, paint, glue, craft materials, clay, Playdoh

These materials are available so that children have the choice to express their thoughts and feelings creatively. The therapist safely stores anything the client makes for a period of time before giving them the choice to keep or throw away the images.

Sometimes art materials are used for sensory processing, as a way to calm down or an outlet for anger and frustration.

What is Landplay?

This is a form of play therapy where the therapist takes the child outdoors in order to utilise the benefits of nature and incorporate it into the healing process.

They will assess if going outside will suit the child and may combine indoor and outdoor sessions.

Landplay can take place in the woods, a school playground, a play area, anywhere where boundaries can be maintained and where the elements can be felt.

What is Music Therapy?

Music Therapy works by establishing a therapeutic relationship through engagement in live musical interaction and play between a therapist and client. A wide range of musical styles and instruments can be used, including the voice, and the music is often improvised. Using music in this way enables clients to create their own unique musical language in which to explore and connect with the world and express themselves.

What is Drama Therapy?

Drama Therapy has as its main focus, the intentional use of healing aspects of drama and theatre as the therapeutic process. It is a method of working and playing that uses action methods to facilitate creativity, imagination, learning, insight and growth.

What is Dance and Movement Therapy?

Dance and movement therapy is a relational process in which client(s) and therapist use body movement and dance as an instrument of communication during the therapy process.

What is Art Therapy?

Art therapy uses art media as its primary mode of communication. Clients who are referred to an art therapist need not have experience or skill in art. The art therapist is not primarily concerned with making an aesthetic or diagnostic assessment of the client’s image. The overall aim of its practitioners is to enable a client to change and grow on a personal level through the use of art materials in a safe and facilitating environment.