Offering support to children and young people, in schools and in private practice, who have experienced trauma or display emotional or behavioural difficulties.
Child-led therapy that meets the child at their level; regardless of developmental age, gender, background or special educational need.
When children are experiencing big emotions they are finding hard to manage, they are often unable to explain with words exactly how they are feeling. This can lead to further frustration and distress for both the child and the adults around them.
Using creative mediums such as play, art, storytelling, music and movement, children are able to play out past or current events in a way that makes sense to them. They are able to see their concerns more clearly which offers relief in the same way adults do when ‘talking through’ their issues.
Being able to create a world or persona in play that they can own, control and therefore better understand provides them with: new perspectives, the ability to ask for help or find their own strategies to cope with the difficulties they are facing.
I have always had an interest in communication. From the amazing variety of ways people are able to communicate; to the difficulty people face when this most basic human need can sometimes seem incrediably hard to do.
Having worked in primary schools as a teaching and learning support assistant for 9 years and as a mum of two teenagers, I have immense experience of the ways children and young people sometimes struggle to voice their true feelings when facing life’s challenges.
This led me to train as a Play Therapist. Where I discovered that “play is the child’s natural medium of self-expression” (Virgina Axline). It is in the playroom with a trusted therapeutic relationship and safe boundaries that I found all children can be empowered to use creative ways to express previously non-verbalised emotions to allow them to then move forward.
Play & Creative Arts Therapy – I accept referrals from Primary and Secondary schools (up to Year 8) and private referrals from parents/carers within Hemel Hempstead and surrounding areas. I work with individuals on a 1:1 basis and each session is typically 45 minutes long (dependent on age and devolopmental need) and takes place at the same time and location on a weekly basis.
Parent-Child Attachment Play – I accept referrals from local: Schools, LAs, community groups or organisations as well as from private individuals. This enjoyable programme for parents/carers provides a practical approach to share the latest family-friendly research. Groups (6max) or 1:1 formats available with hourly sessions over a 6 or 10 week period.
Please email dreamcatcherplaytherapy@gmail.com or use one of the subject-starters below.
These resources can used by parents/carers and teaching staff: