COMPLEX PTSD
COMPLEX PTSD
OFTEN USED WITH CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 11 WHO SUFFER FROM TRAUMA, PTSD, AND C-PTSD
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Association (2017), more than two thirds of children in the United States reported at least one traumatic event by the age of 16. Many of these children suffer from PTSD or C-PTSD. Younger children often do not have the cognitive maturity to benefit from cognitive therapies, however they do show improvement with Play Therapy. Play Therapy allows a child to externalize their trauma in a safe environment, help them process the trauma, and help them manage painful emotions and thoughts.
Play therapy is an empirically proven mental health theory used with children that uses play and toys to meet the developmental needs of children and as a way to learn, process their emotions, and make meaning of their world.
Attributes of Play Therapy include:
A nonjudgmental environment (play room) with a variety of toys and methods of play
An open, engaging, and warm therapist
Responding to defensiveness with openness, understanding, and empathy
Parker, et. al. (2021) completed a meta-analysis of several studies on Play Therapy that showed a positive effect on child behavioral problems, increasing self-acceptance and parental/teacher acceptance as well has helped with parental stress, parental empathy, and parental acceptance. Cotigă, & Stulz-Koller (2021) have also published on the efficacy of Play Therapy in the treatment of childhood trauma.