Theraplay® - Developing Healthy Attachments Through Nurturing Play
ATTCH is excited to offer Theraplay® informed services, a specialized form of child and family therapy, focusing on building and enhancing healthy attachments, trust, regulation, and engagement between the child and their caregiver. This service is ideal for a wide variety of families seeking to nurture and bond with their child inclusive of biological parents, adoptive parents, grandparents, foster parents, kinship placements.
Children who have experienced trauma, a lack of safety or stability, or who have not had healthy attachments to a stable and nurturing caregiver may exhibit challenging behaviours such as aggression or defiance or regressive behaviours as a function of getting some conscious or subconscious need met. Providing safety and nurture in a structured and consistent manner can help regulate the body and mind and allow for healthy bonds to be formed or strengthened.
Theraplay focuses on developing playful and responsive interaction between the child and the caregiver and uses four essential qualities as its foundation: Structure, Engagement, Nurture, and Challenge. In Theraplay the Theraplay Therapist guides the caregiver and child through developmentally appropriate, nurturing and challenging activities helping to regulate the child’s behaviour. The Theraplay Therapist uses attachment-building techniques, which help to demonstrate gentle corrective attachment experiences and communicate love, safety, and attunement to the child. This helps the child feel secure, cared for, connected and worthy. The Theraplay Institute refers to this as “building relationships from the inside out.”
Theraplay is suitable for children of all ages, including babies and expectant mothers, and when combined with other techniques, and is a great therapy for teenagers too. Following treatment positive changes to behaviour, self-concept, and social interaction are observed within the family and school settings. Theraplay can help children who have experienced trauma begin to heal, can help children with developmental disorders feel more comfortable with social interaction, and can help families to experience happiness and connection.
Theraplay is ideal for many populations and situations:
Children who have experienced trauma, a lack of safety or stability, or who have not had healthy attachments to a stable and nurturing caregiver may exhibit challenging behaviours such as aggression or defiance or regressive behaviours as a function of getting some conscious or subconscious need met. Providing safety and nurture in a structured and consistent manner can help regulate the body and mind and allow for healthy bonds to be formed or strengthened.
Theraplay focuses on developing playful and responsive interaction between the child and the caregiver and uses four essential qualities as its foundation: Structure, Engagement, Nurture, and Challenge. In Theraplay the Theraplay Therapist guides the caregiver and child through developmentally appropriate, nurturing and challenging activities helping to regulate the child’s behaviour. The Theraplay Therapist uses attachment-building techniques, which help to demonstrate gentle corrective attachment experiences and communicate love, safety, and attunement to the child. This helps the child feel secure, cared for, connected and worthy. The Theraplay Institute refers to this as “building relationships from the inside out.”
Theraplay is suitable for children of all ages, including babies and expectant mothers, and when combined with other techniques, and is a great therapy for teenagers too. Following treatment positive changes to behaviour, self-concept, and social interaction are observed within the family and school settings. Theraplay can help children who have experienced trauma begin to heal, can help children with developmental disorders feel more comfortable with social interaction, and can help families to experience happiness and connection.
Theraplay is ideal for many populations and situations:
- adoptive families to create a positive and regulated connection
- nuclear families seeking to strengthen the bond within their family
- families who have experienced separation and divorce
- children and youth who have experienced many moves
- expecting and new parents
- reconciliation for caregiver and child / youth
- following exposure to domestic violence
- children and youth who have experienced trauma or loss
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