So Your Child Was Referred For Play Therapy…How Can That Help?

What Is Play Therapy — And Why It’s So Much More Than Just Play

If your child’s pediatrician recently mentioned play therapy, you might be wondering — what exactly does that mean? Is my child just going to play with toys for an hour? Is that really therapy?

These are great questions, and honestly, you’re not alone in asking them. Play therapy has been showing up more and more in pediatric recommendations, and for good reason. But there’s also a lot of confusion about what it actually is. So let me break it down for you in a way that, hopefully, makes it all click.

Why Traditional Talk Therapy Often Doesn’t Work for Kids

Think about the last time you asked your child, “How was your day?” and got a one-word answer. Or tried to have a serious conversation with them about something stressful, only to have them shut down, get silly, or walk away entirely. That’s not a character flaw — that’s just how kids are wired.

Traditional talk therapy — the kind where you sit across from a therapist and talk through your feelings — works well for adults and older teens. But for younger children, it’s often not the right fit. Their brains are still developing. Many don’t yet have the emotional vocabulary to describe what they’re experiencing inside. Sitting still and talking about hard things for 45 minutes? That’s a big ask for a child.

That’s where play therapy comes in.

So What Is Play Therapy, Really?

Play therapy is exactly what it sounds like — and also so much more than that.

On the surface, yes, children come in and they play. They might use a sand tray filled with little miniature figures. They might do some art, dress up, build with Legos, play with dolls, read books, or engage in a board game. From the outside, it can genuinely look like your child is just having fun. And that’s actually the whole point.

But here’s what’s happening underneath that fun: a highly trained therapist is using that play intentionally and therapeutically. They’re observing, guiding, and creating opportunities for your child to express, process, and grow — all through the language that children naturally speak, which is play.

Play is how children make sense of the world. It’s how they rehearse social situations, work through fears, express emotions they can’t yet name, and practice being in their own bodies. A skilled play therapist knows how to enter that world with them and use it as the vehicle for real, meaningful healing.

It’s Not Just Adding a Game to a Session

I want to make an important distinction here, because it’s one that I think gets lost sometimes. There’s a difference between a therapist who incorporates some play or activities into their sessions with children — like playing a game of Uno while talking about a hard situation at school — and a therapist who is practicing actual play therapy.

Both can be helpful. But they are not the same thing.

True play therapy is a clinical specialty. It requires extensive and intentional training beyond a standard therapy license.

The RPT Credential — What It Means and Why It Matters

You may have noticed some therapists have the letters “RPT” or “RPT-S” after their name. That stands for Registered Play Therapist or Registered Play Therapist Supervisor. This credential is awarded through the Association for Play Therapy and it is not easy to earn.

To become an RPT, a therapist must complete hundreds of hours of specific play therapy coursework, accumulate extensive supervised clinical hours working directly with children using play therapy methods, and go through a rigorous application and review process. This can take several years from start to finish. An RPT-S has gone even further and is qualified to supervise other therapists pursuing this credential.

What this means for your family is that an RPT has a deep, specialized knowledge base — different theoretical frameworks, a wide range of interventions, and a nuanced understanding of child development, how children communicate through play, and how to use the therapeutic relationship to support growth and healing.

What Play Therapy Can Actually Help With

Here’s where I want parents to really lean in, because this list often surprises people. In a play therapy session, your child’s therapist may be working on things like:

• Modeling and practicing social skills in real time
• Helping your child identify, name, and express their emotions
• Teaching mindfulness and body-awareness skills — learning to feel calm and grounded in the present moment
• Practicing how to be gentle and regulate their physical energy
• Building focus and attention tolerance
• Developing problem-solving and conflict resolution skills
• Processing trauma or difficult experiences in a safe, contained way
• Learning how to work within limits and boundaries

And all of this is happening through sand tray and miniature figures, through art and creative expression, through imaginative play, through sensory exploration — through the very things your child already loves to do.

Why Kids Actually Want to Come Back

Here’s something I find really meaningful about play therapy: kids want to come. They look forward to it. They ask when they get to go back.

Think about that for a moment. If you told a child, “We’re going to sit and talk about all the hard things and the times you made mistakes,” that would feel about as appealing as extra homework. There would be resistance, dread, and more than a few meltdowns in the car on the way there.

But when a child experiences play therapy — when the space feels safe, fun, and accepting — they walk in with energy. That’s not a coincidence. That’s the art of play therapy at work.

The therapist’s skill lies in creating that environment of warmth and safety, while also gently and purposefully guiding the work. The child doesn’t need to know they’re doing “therapy.” The healing happens naturally through the relationship and the play.

A Final Word for Parents

If your child’s doctor has recommended play therapy, or if you’re wondering whether it might be a good fit, I hope this gives you a clearer picture of what it actually is. It’s not just play. It’s a research-supported, specialized form of therapy designed specifically for how children think, feel, and communicate.

And when done well, it can be truly transformative.

If you would like to get our child set up with one of your therapists who specialize in working with children and providing play therapy and play techniques, you can book HERE.