Play Therapy

Positive Therapeutic Play & Expressive Art

Positive therapeutic play is for persons who need to work through their feelings, social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties, and challenges through the natural medium of play in a safe environment. Agape offers a Play Therapy Intervention program for individuals and organizations.

What is Play Therapy & Expressive Art?

A method of helping individuals with behavioral, social, and emotional problems to help themselves.
Play & expressive art are natural mediums of self-expression - it’s essential for development.
Play & expressive art help the brain to make new pathways and light up more neurons in the brain which helps in their development.
Opportunity to ‘play out ‘ their feelings and problems in a safe and confidential environment.
The Therapist and individual build a therapeutic and safe relationship that allows emotional growth and healing to occur on many levels.
The therapy process helps individuals to gain inner power, explore their resources from within, access needed resources from the outside, and help them learn to make decisions and feel a mastery of their own life while accepting what cannot be immediately changed about their environment and family
The process gives the individual opportunities for self-development, growth, and social integration. Thus helping them to fulfill their potential.
Play Therapy fulfills therapeutic objectives.

Neuroscience of Play & Expressive Art

Emotion influences various cognitive processes, including learning and memory. The amygdala is specialized for input and processing of emotion, while the hippocampus is essential for declarative or episodic memory. During emotional reactions, these two brain regions interact to translate the emotion into particular outcomes.
Play therapy & expressive art act as a ‘brain sculptor’ quietening the amygdala.
Brain research shows that a significant other dramatically affects the long-term chemical balance and actual anatomical structures in the individual's brain for better or worse - especially the hippocampus.
Play & expressive art aid the release of opioids and oxytocin:
- You do not feel aggressive or anxious - you feel calm and psychologically strong
- You have a feeling that everything is well in your world,
- You have a deep sense of well-being
- You feel safe in the world
- Your immune system works better.

The Effectiveness of Play Therapy

Positive change of 78% as observed by referrers.
Gender: Girls 81% do slightly better than boys 77%.

How do we know whether the individual needs play therapy?

There are certain social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties to look out for which are listed below. On top of that, we have a questionnaire known as the Strengths and Difficulty Questionnaire to identify and assess whether an individual needs therapeutic play interventions. You may contact us for a FREE ASSESSMENT.

Some Social, Emotional & Behavioral difficulties to look out for:

Stress

Nightmares

Family going through difficulties or parents divorce

Inattentiveness

Hyperactivity

Depression

Anxiety

Defiant

Quarrelsome

Consistently lying or cheating or stealing

Anger issues

Low self-confidence

Delayed development.

Isolation

Too shy

Bereavement

Fearful

Adjustment difficulties.

Can’t get along well with others.

Any other social, emotional and behavioral concerns