Welcome to Play Therapy Works!

 

Play therapy, child counselling and parent coaching in Blenheim, New Zealand!  

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I offer play therapy and play based CBT and TF-CBT to children aged 12 and under.  I also offer parent coaching and training in relational play to parents and caregivers.  I am a registered counsellor and ACC sensitive claims provider.

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I reopen on 12 January 2026

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Play therapy and play based counselling​

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Play is a very gentle way of working with children.  Children's brains are still developing and work very differently to adult brains, therefore the approach to counselling and trauma needs to be different.  Where adults benefit from top down processing - using words to explain and process their emotions and difficulties, children need a bottom up approach.  Children are more inclined to express and process their emotions and difficulties by acting them out, playing them through with toys or using art or some other form of expression.  Play therapy is a gentle way for a child to work through stuff with or without the need for advanced verbal and processing development.  When necessary or appropriate, I will use CBT or TF-CBT - which are both more top down approaches - but I will still use play as the medium.  These methods work well and using play as the medium makes it gentle and kind to the child in counselling.

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Play therapy works well with children aged 3 - 10 years of age.  For under 3's, I work with both the child and a caregiver together.  I have a fully equipped play therapy room and I also have therapy dogs that I can bring in to assist.  I have a huge lego collection which I use for children who are into lego.  For 10 to 12 year olds I take a more flexible approach and use whichever method is appropriate for the child.

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I am able to get some funding through Gumboot Friday as well as through EAP (if your employer has registered with Telus).  I am a registered ACC sensitive claims provider and I am also registered with Victim Support.  My private rate is $100 per hour but this is negotiable.

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I also offer parent coaching sessions where we discuss and brainstorm parenting techniques.  Finally, I offer training in relational play to parents/caregivers in order to enhance attachment. Please see about me page for more details.