Why Play?
Why Play?
In the TED talk, How every child can thrive by five (Wright 2021) , an incredible 7-year-old whose goal is educate others about how a game of peek a boo can change the world teaches us about 5 factors that really help with healthy brain development. These factors are connecting, talking, playing, having a healthy home and having a healthy community (Wright, 20210). Wright goes on to talk about the idea of serve and return meaning to connect and talk and play with children as early and often as you can to promote healthy brain development. I think about how often this happens in my therapy room when playing a game of crocodile dentist, where we are taking turns pressing the teeth down and exchanging positive warmth and communication while we turn take or how a game of passing the balloon from sword to sword is not only teaching emotional regulation and control but also utilizing serve and return. A child's first language is play and this is where I find we need to start therapy interventions through using didactic parent-child therapy sessions.
Therapy with young children looks different than adults due to brain development. It is vital for ITMH professionals to provide psychoeducation around how mental health therapy works with young children to best support the family engagement from the start.