"Toys work like the child's words and play is the child's language" (Landreth, 2002).
When children witness or are involved in events they do not understand or have control of they may experience high levels of stress and anxiety, which can be reflected in their every day behaviors. Because children have limited vocabulary words to express their thoughts and feelings they may report pseudo hurts and pains or regress and begin acting out. This is the child's way of saying "something is wrong and I need help". Just like adults, children have a need to process and understand what has happend to them. However, unlike adults, children do not only rely on words to communicate. It is for this very important reason that children's' form of communication be used in therapy. This is why we use play therapy. Because...toys are the child's words and play is their language.
(This information was adapted from the Association for Play Therapy's brochure, "Why Play Therapy".)
