What toys should I get for my playroom??

During my training as play therapist I worked and practiced using a variety of resources and therapeutic methods. When I was about to start my clinical placement they gave us a list; it was more like a guideline of what we would need in our play therapy tool kit to start off. The most common question among everyone in the course was “what do we need?”, “how many toys, sandtray miniatures, musical instruments etc. we need?” 

I started buying and collecting toys and to be honest I was getting a bit stressed as I wanted to make sure that I have a good variety of toys and resources. Then I would see something on the shops and think “Goshhh I need that for my play room!!” I think when you first start working as play therapist our dream is to have the perfect playroom with lots and lots of toys and materials. This is the dream of every play therapist out there believe me.

But after years of  working with children I’ve come to realize that children have so much imagination that sometimes they don’t need lots and lots of toys. Even if you give them an empty cardboard box they can come up with so many ideas. They can use it as a castle, fortress, a car etc…. to do a role play, for hide and seek, they can play music, they can tear it up and paint it or use it to do arts and crafts……the possibilities are endless!!!

Children don’t need a lot of toys, they need us, you, their parents and adults to spend quality time with them, to play, bond and create a trusting relationship. It is within this  trusting relationship  that  they will explore, they will ask questions, they will listen, they will feel safe,  they will learn to express their feelings and thoughts, they will learn about the world and how to cope with any challenges. That’s what they need more than any toys in the world…..they need to spend some quality time with their parents!

Belina x

Why Play Therapy?

When I went to London 8 years ago I never thought where I would end up……funny thing I was only meant to go for a year. “My plan” was to come back to Greece…..

It was towards the end of my studies, I didn’t know what to do, I had in my mind to return to Greece but for a reason I couldn’t take that decision. I was also scared to stay in London….”what I was going to do there?” A friend from university suggested to attend a summer training programme in Play Therapy in France, she said it would be interested. Until then I didn’t know anything about Play Therapy, it was the first time that I heard something like that. I wasn’t interested in going to France for the training but I started researching about Play Therapy, how does it work, what is it? Are people just playing with children? Are people going to take me seriously if I tell them that I study Play Therapy? While I was researching I was becoming more interested in Play Therapy and then I found THE BOOK! “Dids……In Search of Self”.
It was the story of a little boy named Dids who was emotionally lost and found his own way back through Play Therapy. That little boy and his story spoke into my heart. All of my questions were answered and had no doubt on what I wanted to do.

Then, my journey as play therapist begun……I found the training in London and applied. It wasn’t the traditional training, it was very experiential and at the beginning I found it difficult to adjust to this kind of training. It was also very emotional at time.
Play Therapy is another form of psychotherapy and like with every therapy training things about you, your life as a person might come up and you need to deal with these and find ways to help yourself.
But no matter how difficult the training was at times and how challenging this job can be, Dids and his story is always in my mind.

Every time someone asks me about Play Therapy, or I feel stuck with a client or I doubt the process or even myself, Dids comes to remind me…..how it works and why I chose Play Therapy.

If you ever find the time read this book. It’s not a big book but it’s one of the most powerful books I’ve ever read.

The book is called ''Dids....In Search Of Self" and the author is Virginia M. Axline.

Belina x