Exploring the effectiveness of play therapy in enhancing children's wellbeing

This presentation will draw from relevant empirical research and current literature in the field of play therapy. It will provide an overview of play therapy, outlining its historical roots in child psychotherapy and charting its progress to contemporary play therapy models, including Non-Directive Play Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Play Therapy and integrative approaches to Play Therapy. It will also address play therapy models which have been developed to promote positive child-parent interaction, including Filial Play Therapy and Theraplay®. The role of the play therapist will be explored in the context of the different play therapy models. The presentation will conclude by evaluating the effectiveness of play therapy specifically focusing on children who have encountered traumatic life events.