During each therapeutic session, your child is invited to choose what to play and how to play. This is their special time, designed to center their voice, interests, and inner experience. If your child feels unsure or has difficulty deciding, the clinician may gently offer options or guidance, while continuing to prioritize the child’s sense of control and empowerment within the space.

Each session is purposefully guided toward your child’s treatment goals, while maintaining a safe, consistent, and supportive environment for exploration. The clinician remains actively engaged and attuned, using the child’s play, choices, and interactions to support emotional expression, build coping skills, and strengthen regulation. While it may appear to be simple play, meaningful and intentional therapeutic work is taking place throughout the session.

Play is a child’s inherent way of communicating. By engaging with toys, art, imaginative scenarios, and stories, children express emotions, observations, and needs for which they may lack the verbal vocabulary. The playroom environment provides children with both the necessary freedom and structure to safely explore their inner lives, process difficult experiences, and develop essential new skills. This focused process ultimately fosters significant growth in emotional intelligence, self-assurance, resilience, and the capacity to approach life’s inevitable challenges in ways that are both healthy and natural for their stage of development.

During play therapy, your child’s clinician actively supports their emotional growth as the session unfolds. The clinician reflects and validates your child’s emotional experience, offering them the opportunity to develop a sense of being understood, accepted, and supported. Through gentle narration of the play, the clinician supports emotional awareness, language development, and the ability to make connections between feelings, behaviors, and experiences.

When challenges arise, the clinician encourages problem-solving and exploration rather than stepping in to fix or direct the outcome. This approach helps children in building confidence, flexibility, and resilience, while fostering belief in one’s own capability and independence. The clinician remains attuned to your child’s cues, offering guidance and support in ways that feel safe, respectful, and developmentally appropriate.

Throughout the process, children have opportunities to practice managing intense or overwhelming emotions. They are introduced to healthy coping and regulation skills that can be used both in that playroom as well as in their day-to-day lives. Over time, these experiences help strengthen emotional regulation, self-confidence, and the ability to navigate challenges. Even when it looks like “just playing,” meaningful and intentional therapeutic work is taking place.

Safety is always a priority in the playroom. While children are given freedom to express themselves, there are times when something may be unsafe or not appropriate for the space. In those moments, the clinician sets a calm, respectful therapeutic limit that supports both safety and emotional expression.

Limits are clear and consistent while being paired with empathy and validation. For example, a clinician might say, “You can do just about anything in our special play time, but the toys are not for throwing. You look angry right now—let’s find a safe way to show that.” This approach helps children feel empowered while also learning that boundaries are an important and supportive part of relationships.

Through this process, children begin to understand that all feelings are welcome, even when certain behaviors are not. They are supported in finding safe, appropriate ways to express strong emotions, rather than being corrected through shame or punishment. Over time, this consistent and compassionate approach helps build self-control, emotional awareness, and the ability to navigate limits in a healthy and confident way.

Parents are an essential part of the therapeutic process. Depending on your child’s needs, this may include parent meetings, coaching and support strategies, collaborative goal-setting, and/or parent-child sessions. Our goal is to support not just your child, but your entire family.

[See more information about Parent/Caregiver involvement in the Parent Meetings & Ongoing Collaboration section.]

Working together allows the clinician and family to better understand and support your child’s needs. Collaboration helps reinforce your child’s progress by supporting growth and skill-building beyond the play space. Children’s progress is most effective when their parents are also willing to reflect, learn, and make changes alongside them. Lasting growth happens when both children and parents make adjustments, strengthening the whole family system.

Whether your family includes both parents living together, single-parenting, blended or stepfamily, multigenerational or grandparent-led family, adoptive or foster family, or a chosen family, we begin with caregiver/s and we are so glad you are here!

Starting therapy can bring up many emotions, relief, uncertainty, and hope for the adults in a child’s life. The first meeting is a space for you to feel heard and supported. Children don’t process feelings the same way adults do, so it is good for us to explore expectations you may have and provide education on how play therapy will support your child. There is no judgment here, only curiosity and care.

During this initial meeting, your clinician will:

• Listen carefully to your concerns and hopes for your child
• Explore your child’s unique strengths, interests, and personality
• Review developmental and family history to understand the bigger picture
• Gently discuss current stressors or past difficult experiences
• Discuss and explore what therapy will look like
• Review clinic policies and answer questions

You know your child best. Your insight, instincts, and lived experience are invaluable to this process. We view therapy as a true partnership and are committed to walking alongside you every step of the way.

After the parent/guardian intake appointment, your child will have their first appointment. They will spend time with their clinician exploring the play space and beginning to build connection and comfort. The parents/guardians will then attend a follow-up meeting with the clinician to discuss initial observations, explore any questions the clinician has after meeting your child, ensure understanding of policies and procedures, and to collaboratively develop your child’s treatment goals and plan. The intake process is designed to ensure your family feels supported both within The Play Space and throughout your care at Coastal Wellness & Counseling, LLC.

Your child’s first visit is all about creating safety through play.

Play therapy is designed to meet children in the way they naturally communicate through toys, imagination, creativity, and movement. The playroom is thoughtfully set up with intentionally chosen materials that help children express feelings, process experiences, and build skills. Every clinician has a different style and approach, so no two rooms are the same, much like the children coming into the space.

During the first session, we focus on:

• Exploring the playroom and becoming familiar with the space
• Following your child’s pace and interests
• Building comfort and trust with the clinician
• Helping your child experience therapy as safe and welcoming
• Answer questions or allow play to do the talking

There is no pressure for your child to talk about hard things right away. Many children are not ready and they don’t need to be. In play therapy, conversation unfolds naturally over time.

When children feel emotionally safe, their nervous systems can begin to settle. From that place of comfort and safety, growth happens. Whether that looks like expressing big feelings, practicing regulation skills, building confidence, or simply feeling more secure, there is no “right way” to do play therapy. Healing begins with safety, connection, and the freedom to play.

How Often Will My Child Have Sessions

How Often Will My Child Have Sessions?

Most children begin therapy with one session per week, typically lasting about 50 minutes, depending on their age, developmental stage, and individual needs. During the intake appointment, your clinician will recommend a session length and frequency based on your child’s unique goals, and this plan can be adjusted over time as progress is made or needs change.

Healing through play is a gentle, relational process that unfolds gradually. Children first develop a sense of trust and safety within the therapeutic relationship, and from there begin to share feelings, explore experiences, and practice new ways of coping, expressing themselves, and connecting with others. Each session builds upon the last, creating a foundation for growth that develops in a steady and meaningful way.

Much like learning to read or ride a bike, emotional and behavioral skills strengthen with repetition, encouragement, and consistency. Regular attendance helps children maintain a sense of safety and predictability, supports continuity in the therapeutic process, and allows progress to build over time. Through this consistent and supportive experience, children are able to develop lasting skills that extend beyond the playroom and into their daily lives.

As children grow, an important part of the therapeutic process is building a strong, trusting relationship between the child and their clinician. Trust creates the foundation that allows children to feel emotionally safe, understood, and supported.

To help foster that trust, we protect a child’s privacy within the therapy space. When children know that their thoughts and feelings are respected, they are able to be vulnerable and brave enough to:

• Express themselves freely and honestly
• Take emotional risks by sharing difficult thoughts or feelings
• Build confidence and trust in the therapeutic relationship
• Explore important themes through play, creativity, and conversation

Through play, storytelling, art, and imaginative expression, children are able to safely express and process worries, stressful or traumatic experiences, relationships, and big emotions. With parents and caregivers being essential partners in the therapeutic process, your clinician will provide meaningful updates about overall themes during treatment plan reviews. These meetings are time for you to hear what your child’s clinician is noticing, progress toward goals, emotional or behavioral patterns being revealed, and ways to support growth at home. These meetings allow us to keep parents informed and involved in ways that strengthen the child’s support system.

There are some limitations as clinicians typically do not share specific details about exactly what a child says during sessions unless:

● There is a safety concern (such as risk of harm to the child or others)

● The child gives permission for information to be shared

● It is clinically necessary to support the child’s progress

Maintaining this balance allows children to feel safe enough to be open and honest, while also ensuring that parents receive the information they need to support their child’s well-being.

What If Progress Feels Slow

What If Progress Feels Slow?

Play therapy is like planting a garden. At first, it may not look like much is changing. You show up week after week, and the process can feel quiet or slow. But beneath the surface, important work is taking place. Roots are forming and strengthening in ways that are not always immediately visible.

In small, meaningful play moments, your child is learning how to handle big feelings, solve problems, build confidence in themselves, and begin to trust their inner voice. They are practicing new ways of coping, connecting, and making sense of their experiences, all within the safety of the therapeutic relationship.

Even when progress isn’t easy to see right away, growth is unfolding. With time, consistency, and support, those roots become a strong foundation for emotional resilience, self-awareness, and healthy relationships.

At Coastal Wellness & Counseling, LLC (CWC) and The Play Space, parents and caregivers are essential partners in the therapeutic process. While your child’s individual therapy provides their own confidential space, meaningful progress happens when families are informed, supported, and included. In addition to your child’s sessions and Treatment Plan Review, Parent Meetings are available and can be scheduled whenever you feel they would be helpful or if the clinician determines that additional support or consultation would be beneficial.

Parent Meetings are consistently scheduled during the first phase of therapy from the intake to the initial Treatment Plan Review to strengthen communication, increase understanding of themes emerging in the play space, and build a strong, trusted partnership with caregivers. These meetings provide an opportunity for both the parents and the clinician to discuss concerns, offer guidance, answer questions, continue further assessment of your child’s therapeutic needs, and ensure parents feel connected and informed throughout the therapeutic process.

These meetings can be used to:

• Discuss new concerns or changes at home or school
• Review behavioral patterns you’re noticing
• Learn regulation and connection strategies
• Identify parenting support and resources
• Process parenting stress or uncertainty
• Ask questions about your child’s progress

Some families prefer regular parent check-ins, while others schedule meetings as needed. We tailor caregiver involvement to what feels most supportive and practical for your family. If support needs extend beyond what your child’s individual clinician can provide, we may recommend additional services such as family therapy, Filial Therapy, couples therapy, coparenting counseling, or parenting support and education.

Whenever possible, we encourage parents and caregivers to participate collaboratively in parent meetings, even when your child has more than one home. Though Parent Meetings can be done separately, children benefit when the important adults in their lives share understanding and approach support from the same framework. We recognize that family structures can be complex, and we approach each situation with sensitivity, neutrality, and care.

All parent meetings remain child-focused and centered on the therapeutic care your child is receiving.

Three times per year, we formally review your child’s treatment plan together.

These meetings allow us to:

• Evaluate progress and growth
• Revisit goals and priorities
• Adjust strategies and interventions as needed
• Explore new stressors or concerns
• Ensure therapy aligns with your child’s developmental stage
• Collaborate on next steps

Children grow and change quickly, and what was needed six months ago may look very different today. Treatment Plan Review meetings are designed to ensure that your child’s therapeutic process remains intentional, collaborative, and goal-oriented as their needs evolve. These reviews give us the opportunity to evaluate progress, discuss emerging themes, adjust goals if needed, consider the effectiveness of interventions and therapeutic approaches, and ensure therapy continues to align with your child’s development and your family’s priorities.

As with parent meetings, we ask that parents or primary caregivers attend treatment plan review meetings collaboratively whenever possible, including in coparenting families. Shared communication reduces misunderstandings, increases stability and consistency for your child, and allows important decisions to be made thoughtfully within the therapeutic space. It also provides time for questions to be addressed clearly and efficiently. These review meetings help us remain responsive, aligned, and focused on supporting your child’s continued growth.

We view therapy as a partnership. You bring invaluable knowledge of your child’s daily life, personality, and history. We bring clinical training and perspective. Together, we support your child’s growth with clarity and compassion. Our goal is to help your child, but also to equip the adults in their life with tools, insight, and confidence. Including parents in the therapeutic process provides a healing connection between what happens in therapy with progress and improvement at home and in family life.

Your child’s therapy space is private, thoughtful, and protected. What your child shares in session is handled with care and clinical discretion to preserve their sense of safety and trust. Our approach is grounded in neutrality, transparency, and always centered on the child’s best interest.

Our role is to support your child’s emotional health and development. When working with coparents who have very different parenting styles, it is essential for the clinician to remain neutral and for the therapeutic approach to focus on what best supports the child’s treatment goals

Remaining neutral helps build trust with both parents. If a clinician appears to take sides, it can create tension, reduce cooperation, and make it harder for parents to stay engaged in the process. Neutrality allows the clinician to maintain a safe, respectful space where both parents feel heard.

Staying child-centered ensures that decisions and conversations are guided by the child’s needs not adult conflict or differing perspectives. This helps keep the focus on supporting the child’s emotional development, sense of security, and overall functioning.

When coparenting relationships are strained, and there is the possibility or history of significant litigation, the clinician and the clinic’s role remains steady, neutral, and child-focused. With the support of Whitney M. Whitman, LPC-S, Director of Court-Involved Therapies, clinicians in The Play Space follow clear protocols designed to protect the therapeutic space while supporting children and families navigating complex dynamics.

In these situations, we:

• Maintain therapeutic neutrality at all times
• Keep all communication centered on the child’s emotional and developmental needs
• Encourage shared understanding of treatment goals
• Set clear, structured boundaries around communication
• Avoid involvement in parental disputes or alignment with either party

Our priority is to preserve therapy as a safe and protected space for your child. Children benefit most when the important adults in their lives reduce conflict and increase consistency. We encourage parents to communicate directly with one another regarding scheduling, logistics, and court-related matters, rather than using the clinician as an intermediary.

The purpose of therapy is treatment, not investigation or to gather evidence for litigation. Clinicians focus on supporting the child’s emotional and behavioral well-being rather than collecting evidence, determining the accuracy of allegations, or providing opinions for court proceedings.

By maintaining clear boundaries and a neutral stance, we help ensure that therapy remains focused where it belongs: on your child’s wellbeing, growth, and stability.

If there are custody agreements or court orders in place, we ask that those documents be provided before treatment begins so we can ensure compliance with legal requirements.

If therapy for your child and/or family is court-ordered, the Director of Court Involved Therapies reviews the court’s orders to ensure that services provided in accordance with the order are ethical, aligned with best practices, and informed by research.

If your family is working with a Custody Investigator or Parenting Coordinator, we will review our communication policies and procedures with both parents and the court-appointed professional.

Play therapy includes several research-supported approaches. At The Play Space and Coastal Wellness & Counseling, LLC, clinicians may use one model of therapy, or thoughtfully blend elements of different approaches, based on your child’s unique needs, personality, and experiences. Not all models listed below are offered at CWC. We include these resources for reference of the vast range of approaches.

There is no one-size-fits-all method here. We carefully consider what will best support your child’s growth, emotional regulation, and overall sense of safety, tailoring the therapeutic experience to fit them not the other way around.

No two children are the same and neither are their stories.

Every child comes to therapy with a unique temperament, set of experiences, strengths, and challenges. We take time to understand the whole child, not just the behavior that brought you in. Not every theory or modality is utilized within our clinic at this time, though we are always seeking out ways to learn new things!

When developing a plan for care, we thoughtfully consider:

• Your child’s developmental stage and personality
• Any history of stress, trauma, or significant life changes and experiences
• Emotional regulation patterns and nervous system needs
• Family relationships and dynamics
• Cultural background, values, and community context
• Individual strengths, interests, and natural resilience
• Previous and current therapeutic interventions
• Information from evaluations and/or assessments

We meet your child exactly where they are and walk alongside your family with compassion, clarity, and care.

We believe children grow best when they are seen and understood within the full context of their lives. No matter which play therapy approach we use, our care remains rooted in a few guiding principles:

• It is evidence-based and grounded in established best practices.
• It is trauma-informed, with a strong focus on helping children feel safe and supported in regulating their emotions.
• Our work is also inclusive and affirming of each child’s identity and lived experiences.
• Above all, it is relationship-centered, recognizing that connection and trust are at the heart of healing.

Adlerian Play Therapy
Attachment Theory & Theraplay®
Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT)
Filial Therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Play Therapy (CBPT)
Ecosystemic Play Therapy
Gestalt Play Therapy
Jungian Analytical Play Therapy
Psychoanalytic Play Therapy

Documents & Studies

Adlerian Play Therapy
https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.a4pt.org/resource/resmgr/publications/pt_theories/Adlerian_Sept2019_FINAL.pdf

Attachment Theory & Theraplay®
https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.a4pt.org/resource/resmgr/publications/pt_theories/Attachment_Sept2019_FINAL.pdf

Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT)
https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.a4pt.org/resource/resmgr/publications/pt_theories/childCentered_Sept2019_FINAL.pdf

Filial Therapy
https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.a4pt.org/resource/resmgr/publications/pt_theories/Filial_Sept2019_FINAL.pdf

Cognitive Behavioral Play Therapy (CBPT)
https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.a4pt.org/resource/resmgr/publications/pt_theories/CognitiveBehavioral__Sept201.pdf

Ecosystemic Play Therapy
https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.a4pt.org/resource/resmgr/publications/pt_theories/Ecosystemic_Sept2019_FINAL.pdf

Gestalt Play Therapy
https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.a4pt.org/resource/resmgr/publications/pt_theories/Gestalt_Sept2019_FINAL.pdf

Jungian Analytical Play Therapy
https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.a4pt.org/resource/resmgr/publications/pt_theories/Jungian_Sept2019_FINAL.pdf

Psychoanalytic Play Therapy
https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.a4pt.org/resource/resmgr/publications/pt_theories/Psychoanalytic_Sept2019_FINA.pdf

Websites

Association for Play Therapy- Parents Corner
https://www.a4pt.org/page/ParentsCornerHomePag

ADDitude
https://www.additudemag.com/

Autism Speaks
https://www.autismspeaks.org/