Play Therapy for Adults: Benefits and How It Works

Being an adult comes with a set of opportunities and challenges one must navigate to flourish. Some of these challenges can be especially trying, and they require the help of others for us to even process them, let alone return to a sense of normalcy.

We may not always have the capacity or skill to express the difficult emotions and thoughts we have on account of certain experiences, but that doesn’t negate the fact that we have them. Therapies such as play therapy can help individuals overcome that obstacle and pave the way for healing.

Play therapy and how it works

Often, we don’t have the words to articulate our experiences, perhaps because we haven’t quite processed them, but also because they are painful and difficult to process. We sometimes find that simply describing our inner experience through words and stories feels too cerebral and falls short of expressing the depths of our pain. Play therapy helps a person express their feelings and thoughts through the medium of play.

As children, it was through play that we learned how to interact with the world and develop certain useful skills such as the ability to express ourselves and our ideas. During play, a person may either symbolically or directly act out their thoughts and feelings, allowing a therapist to gain insight into their emotional and mental state.

The act of play provides a safe environment for this to occur, providing a space that allows people to express things through actions that they might otherwise find difficult to say.

The Association for Play Therapy (APT) is a nationally recognized professional institution that offers training programs and advanced credentials specifically for licensed mental health professionals. Play therapy is practiced by a broad range of licensed mental health professionals such as psychologists and psychiatrists, occupational, behavioral, and physical therapists, and social workers.

This specialized training offered by the APT provides the tools that enable a trained therapist to use playtime to observe and gain insights into a person’s problems. Through play, a mental health professional can help someone explore their emotions and deal with unresolved trauma. This same medium of play can teach someone new coping mechanisms and ways to redirect inappropriate and unhealthy behaviors toward healthy ones.

Each person has particular ways they prefer to express themselves creatively. Some people are visual or artistic, and so they would prefer using art as a means of expression. Others prefer to use stories, while yet others prefer more tactile forms of self-expression such as role-playing. As such, a play therapy session may involve a variety of mediums of play, depending on what you feel comfortable with:

Dramatic role-playing

If you’re inclined toward and comfortable acting, you can role-play a dialogue between different individuals in your life such as your spouse, yourself, your children, or your boss. Role-playing allows you to enter into these various characters and express the multi-layered dynamics present in these relationships.

Game playing

For other people, they may lean toward game playing, which is a technique that therapists often use with older children, adolescents, and adults. For some people, having clear rules to follow not only can help a distractible person focus their attention on the task at hand, but games also function well as a tool for socialization that can teach people how to take turns and be gracious in their winning or losing.

Art

If you’re naturally inclined and drawn to art, you can grab some paper, pen, pencil, paint, or charcoals and sketch a picture depicting your current emotional and mental state.

Other forms of play therapy include storytelling, movement or body play, sand tray play, nature play, dream play, social play, pretend play, creative play, music therapy, and vocal play. These are just some of the different forms of play that a person can engage in during play therapy. The therapist may give basic instructions, observing as the play unfolds and asking questions to gain deeper insights into what is being acted out.

Who is play therapy for?

Most people associate play therapy with children, and that association is with good reason. Largely, it is children, especially those aged 3-12, that make use of play therapy. This is the age group that responds particularly well to this type of therapy. However, play isn’t just for kids, and neither is play therapy.

Teenagers and adults can also have a difficult time expressing their innermost feelings or particularly difficult and traumatic experiences in words. This makes play therapy a great option that can play a significant role in their healing process.

For most people, by the time they reach adulthood, they have lost their ability to playfully explore. Play therapy helps one relearn the value of play, such as the enhancement of physical and cognitive behaviors, the optimization of learning, and the improvement of health and relationships.

As we grow older, we forget the potential of play and the fact that the act of playing, whether through games, arts and crafts, or music and dance, can help one relax and unwind from the pressures of everyday life. These therapies can help you get in touch with feelings that are difficult to talk about, and they are also useful as safe spaces for working on strategies to deal with particular scenarios in your life.

Play therapy is useful as a therapeutic intervention and may benefit people who are affected by the following:

• Intellectual disabilities and developmental issues.
• Grief and loss.
• Dementia.
• Anger management issues.
• Chronic illness, palliative care, and hospice care.
• Substance use.
• Trauma and physical abuse.
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
• Obsessions and compulsions.
• Unresolved childhood issues.
• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
• Anxiety.
• Depression.
• Arrested emotional development.

Play therapy can help reveal hidden traumas and promote healing, addressing a broad range of health challenges that are experienced by adults, and it may be used to complement other types of therapy and medication.

The benefits of play therapy

Some research suggests that there are several benefits of play therapy for adults. Some of these benefits include:

Boosting mental health in older age

In 2001, an experiment with a small group of older adults in a nursing home observed how one to two sessions of play therapy per week for 6–10 weeks involving creative writing, music, art, games, and sand tray therapy affected them. The participants socialized more with others, appeared to have better self-esteem, appeared to have lower rates of depression, and showed interest in solving their own problems, such as feeling lonely.

Facilitating coping with trauma

When we go through trauma, one of our responses is to close ourselves off from others and put our guard up to protect ourselves from further trauma. This is the case, for example, with survivors of domestic abuse. Play therapy creates a relaxed environment that cuts through one’s guardedness, enabling adults to safely examine and express their feelings, and approach issues that may feel or appear threatening.

Cultivating communication

Play therapy may have a positive effect on various aspects of psychological health, including emotional well-being. Adults with developmental disabilities may have few opportunities for validation and emotional expression. Play therapy can provide a space for self-expression and gaining confidence.

Making use of play therapy for you or your loved one

Play can provide a comfortable and safe environment that may prompt an adult to face difficult issues with their guard lowered. Under the guidance of an experienced therapist, play can be a valuable tool in moving you toward the healing you desire.

Play therapy can help individuals grow in their ability to communicate, explore repressed thoughts and painful emotions, address unresolved trauma, and experience personal growth. It is widely viewed as an effective form of therapy that can meet a variety of needs.

As with any other form of therapy, your therapist will tailor the play therapy to your specific needs and creative inclinations so that you can get the most out of it. If you think that play therapy may be helpful to you or a loved one, find a therapist or counselor that is accredited by the Association for Play Therapy, as they will have the skill set to help you navigate complex issues through the medium of play.

Reach out to find out more about play therapy and start your journey toward wholeness by making an appointment today.