Garry Landreth is a leading authority in child therapy. The author of seven play therapy books, he runs the Center for Play Therapy in Texas. He is a licensed professional counselor and licensed psychologist.
Landreth says play therapy is growing in use for two reasons. One is the growing recognition of its effectiveness. Secondly, he says, "The needs of children have intensified. We have many more abused children now, many more children experiencing the stress of divorce in families.
"That, then, has contributed to the need for people who are able to communicate effectively with young children in means other than through verbalization. Because young children...have difficulty verbalizing what their needs are, but unconsciously they will play out their needs when provided with proper toys and materials."
Not just anyone can get children to play out their needs. And not just anyone can understand what those needs are. To understand the language of play, therapists need to get on the floor and be with the child, says play therapist Joanne Ginter.
"In other words, you have to be able to get to the child's level and be with the child. That doesn't mean that you always become actively involved with the play, but you have to be where the child is at. You have to allow yourself to hear what the child's saying in the child's language."
Ginter gives the example of a child playing in a sandbox. "I'm a child, and let's say I'm running cars through the sand, like I'm doing a car race," she says.
"An adult thing might be to get into analyzing how the race might go, who's going to win, why they're going to win. Now, you might ask those questions later. But if you really want to engage the child, you take a car and race beside the child, and do sounds like 'vvvrrroommm.'"
A play therapist can learn a lot by simply watching a child play. Often, the best thing a play therapist can do is to just observe.
"The play is very revealing," says Ellen Lacter, a play therapist in California.
"They'll very often show you, without knowing it, the relationships that they're experiencing and that they've experienced in the past. So, if all the tigers are put close together and it's this warm family group, well, that probably reflects experience with that, or it could reflect a wish for that," she says.
"You're always watching the play to find out what the underlying problem is. Then you're tailoring your response to solve the underlying problem. And then you're watching the play again to see if you're getting anywhere."
When asked what makes a good play therapist, Betty Bedard-Bidwell quotes Landreth, a widely known authority in play therapy.
"Garry Landreth said it best: 'Children don't really care how much you know, they care how much you care.' And that's what it comes down to," Bedard-Bidwell says. "I think what makes a good play therapist is someone who wants to do the work, who enjoys it, and who really is listening and supporting the child."
Play therapists talk a lot about the need for creativity. Every child has different needs and different ways of expressing those needs. So therapists need to adjust their methods to suit the child.
"That's where the creativity comes in, because there's a million ways to intervene," says Lacter. "If one doesn't work, you've got to be able to think on your feet."
Ginter agrees about the importance of creativity. "Creativity is hugely important, because otherwise I don't think you can hear them well. If you're listening at the gut level, you'll know what to do."
Landreth, on the other hand, hesitates to say play therapists must be creative. "I would probably word it a little bit differently," he says.
"I think it's important that play therapists have a creative spirit. They may not be highly creative individuals themselves. And I don't think that's necessary because they're not going into the playroom to create artwork, for example. But [they need] a creative spirit that appreciates the creativity within children.
"The play therapist must be a warm person that children can feel safe with."