The Hershey Counseling Center Play Therapy Room
Play Therapy has been found to be effective for a variety of children’s concerns including:
- Excessive Fear, Worry, Shyness
- ADHD & ADD
- Aggression and Acting Out
- School Difficulties
- Making Friends
- Separation & Divorce Issues
- Foster & Adoption Issues
- Grief and Loss
Play Therapy is one of the most developmentally appropriate forms of therapeutic intervention for children. Appropriate for ages 3-14
Child-Centered Play Therapy is an evidenced-based, developmentally appropriate form of child therapy which is demonstrated to be highly effective in assisting children with a variety of concerns.
Through Play Therapy, children learn to communicate with others, express feelings, modify behavior, develop problem-solving skills, and learn a variety of ways of relating to others.
Play Therapy differs from regular play in that the Play Therapist helps children to address and resolve their own problems. Play therapy builds on the natural way that children learn about themselves and their relationships in the world around them.
Play Therapists are Mental Health Professionals who have earned a Master’s Degree in Mental Health Counseling and have received specialized training and supervision in the practice of Play Therapy.
Due to its focus on the developmental needs of young children, Play Therapy is widely used as an intervention for children’s emotional and behavioral problems.
Children often have difficulty trying to say in words what they feel or how experiences have affected them.
Often children have used up their own problem solving tools, and they misbehave, may act out at home, with friends, and at school (Landreth, 2002).
By confronting problems in the clinical Play Therapy setting, children find healthier solutions. Play Therapy allows children to change the way they think about, feel toward, and resolve their concerns (Kaugars & Russ, 2001).
Even the most troubling problems can be confronted in Play Therapy and lasting resolutions can be discovered, rehearsed, mastered and adapted into lifelong strategies (Russ, 2004).
Throughout life a child will most likely encounter difficult situations, such as the divorce of their parents, trouble making friends, or adjusting to changes at school or home.
Some children need more help than others to get through these times. If you or other adults in your child's life are concerned about your child’s behavior, Play Therapy can help.
Most insurances do cover Play Therapy as Play Therapy works for children as counseling does for adults. Call 717-220-4808 to verify your coverage.