Play Therapy
At Havannah, we are working in partnership with Cheshire Play Therapy who offer a wide range of therapeutic services including, but not limited to:
Play & Creative Arts Therapy:
A form of counselling or psychotherapy in which play and creative arts are used as a means of helping children and young people express, communicate and process their thoughts, feelings and life experiences. In the process of growing up most children face challenges, worries and fears and sometimes need help in getting through the tough times.
We work with children and young people of all ages in a safe and trusting environment to help shift perspectives of difficult experiences and increase confidence and self-esteem. Our main aim is to equip children with adaptive behaviours and better coping mechanisms for everyday life. We work in a holistic child centred way and use both non-directive and directive techniques to meet the needs of individuals.
Creative techniques and play are more universal and therefore tend to be more familiar and less intimidating. Expressive media also allow the child/ young person and therapist to have a project/task to focus on, which naturally creates some distance, space and externalisation, which can make the feelings or memories feel less overwhelming and support the child to feel less exposed.
These therapies are effective interventions for children and young people with difficulties such as but not limited to the following:
- Relationship difficulties Trauma
- Stress /anxiety / low self-esteem Attachment
- Bullying Looked after children
- Bereavement/Loss Self Harm
- Anger issues ADHD/Autism
Parent Child Attachment Play / Heart To Heart /Filial Therapy / Coaching:
These programmes are delivered depending on the needs of the individual family but each use didactic elements to help strengthen and enhance the parent-child relationship in order to facilitate change. These methods help to support children’s emotional well-being and place the parent/carer as the agent for change in their child’s life.
Group Therapy:
Play and Creative Arts Therapy can be run in small groups. Children and young people in these groups learn to listen, value and support other group members increasing their understanding of both others and themselves whilst supporting the development of healthy relationships. Sessions aim to increase self-esteem, confidence and emotional resilience and helps support children in regulating and managing their emotions more effectively.
Supervision & Consultancy:
According the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families the promotion of children’s mental health can only be achieved by meeting the needs of staff wellbeing and if we do not recognise the importance of this we will fail not only the staff themselves but also the children they support.
We can offer individual and group support in the form of consultancy meetings and regular Clinical Supervision sessions in order to promote their mental health. Working with children and young people with complex needs can be particularly difficult and it can be a lifeline to have a dedicated slot of time to discuss aspects of behaviour, care and our own responses as parents and professionals to the demand of this work. Providing this support to staff can promote staff mental health, morale and confidence, and reduces the risk of burn out.
This service can be accessed through discussions with our SENCo, Mrs Slater-Baynes or Ms Holmes, if deemed appropriate.