Are you really being Child Centered when you’re doing Child Centered Play Therapy?
Using Child Centered Play Therapy in the playroom means that you are providing a safe space for children to express themselves, explore their emotions, and process their experiences - with the child leading the way. And for some therapists who practice Child Centered Play Therapy - some direction and control can (unintentionally) creep in without you even knowing it!
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If you tell me you are a play therapist, you both tell me a lot and very little about what you believe about growth, change, and healing with children.
You tell me a lot in regards to your understanding of what is developmentally appropriate and necessary for kids to heal and grow, and that they need interventions beyond talk therapy. 
Interpreting play themes - aka “what the heck did that mean” or “are they just playing?” is one of the most frequent questions that comes up for therapists in Child Centered Play Therapy.
And today? Get ready to cut through the confusion because I am serving you up my best-of-the-best resources to increase your confidence and clarity when identifying themes in the playroom! 
What kind of play therapist are you? Are you a purist that practices one theory and one theory only? Child Centered Play Therapy or bust?
OR do you have multiple core modalities and theories that you use based on the development, age, and presenting concern of the child? 
If you are a Child Centered Play Therapist, or not, unconditional positive regard is one the essential foundations for effective therapy.
According to Carl Rogers, unconditional positive regard is an attitude of caring, acceptance, and appreciation that is offered to a person regardless of their behavior or whether it aligns with the therapist’s personal values. Rogers believed this kind of acceptance is essential for fostering self-awareness, self-worth, and healthy personality growth—making it a universal human need crucial to emotional development. 
With divorce and separation being a common occurrence it’s likely you have clients from all phases of divorce entering your playroom.
The families that have been divorced for years BUT are still doing the job of parenting (sometimes effectively, and sometimes…..not so much). The families that are seeking support to tell their children about the divorce and want the powers of play therapy to support their children through all the upcoming changes. The families that are in the middle of heated custody battles AND the families where parents are together but divorce is looming on the horizon. Protect Your Play Therapy Practice: 4 WAYS to Avoid Legal Issues in Divorce & Custody Cases4/30/2025 
As a therapist that works with kids and teens, you will absolutely work with divorce.
Whether a family comes into the playroom and the divorce seems like ancient history, they are presenting because of the divorce, or a divorce is on the horizon, divorce in the playroom is common. 
Even when the divorce process is over, the parenting process continues.
And hot take? Parenting doesn’t exactly end at 18 either. And the parenting process? Well… it feels like there can be 1,000 different decisions to make at any given moment. Forms to return to school, baseball games to put on the schedule, and the leotard that was left in the change room that you need to double back for. Don’t even ask what’s for dinner. Working With Divorce in Play Therapy: From High Conflict Divorce To High Conflict Co Parenting4/16/2025 
When thinking about divorce and separation sometimes it feels like there needs to be a dictionary of terms.
And definition and terms? They are essential for understanding and making sense of all of the complex concepts that come with working with divorced and separated family systems, which allows you to increase your ability to support the kids, teens, and families that come into your playroom. 
One of the major tasks of play therapy is assessing the family system.
What is the level of attachment? The quality of the parent child relationship? What are the sources of strength and resilience? Areas of difficulty? Opportunities for skills and growth? And in divorced or separated family systems this assessment is much more complex. |
Hi, there!I'm Ann Meehan, an LPCC, 
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[email protected] | Copyright Meehan Mental Health Services 2025
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[email protected] | Copyright Meehan Mental Health Services 2025