Play therapy can help adults with stress and introduce positive therapy 

Play therapy can help adults with stress, developmental problems, and other things. Play therapy isn’t just developed for children, because it is beneficial for all ages. This type of therapy helps patients not only with their mind but in their body. Play therapy can also help adults and aid in dementia patients with memory issues, as well as overall mood improvement. Play therapy is also beneficial by giving patients room to work out issues in a positive environment and leaving them with positive feelings. 

In the playtherapist.com the author talks about the importance of play therapy in adults, and how it helps restore the brain chemistry that helps the whole brain operate in a more efficient way, due to childhood stress, or other stressors in daily life. 

Stress negatively impacts a person’s day to day life, as well as hurts them mentally and physically long term. It can impact your heart, give you high blood pressure, and give you anxiety as well. In adults, many stressors can be brought on especially in homes. In patients with dementia, and older nursing homes, it negatively impacts their survival rate. Stress in older patients can increase the risk of heart disease, depression and other things that is negative to them.

In unicornlifetraining.net the author talks about how play therapy is a form of positive therapy, it isn’t distressing to the person receiving it and it is an alternative to those who talk therapy doesn’t necessarily benefit them. This is particularly true because they can work out problems without actually having to talk about the past events that upset them. They are able to work out in a positive way to uplift their self-esteem and work out any problems that they may have carried into adulthood from childhood. 

Positive therapy is something that instead of bringing up sad and hurtful events brings up positive and good ones to help an individual cope with whatever is happening in their life. It is something that is new but is beneficial to the person needing positivity. It allows the patient to be able to reflect on happy feelings instead of sad ones, and give them a space to improve without bringing up bad feelings or the bad things they are doing. It gives a positive outlook on therapy, and a positive outlook on the patient’s life.

Play therapy is positive therapy, and it gives patients the room to work out trauma and stress without negative feelings. Play therapy gives the patient room to be imaginative, and feel vulnerable with the therapist without having any negative feelings attached. They are able to work out issues with play, blow off steam, help them relax, and more. “The therapist is allowed to introduce specific items or play activities which are related to the problems that the child is facing” Goodtherapy.org. Even though this is applied to children, it can also be applied to adults too. For example , if a patient is experiencing a loss of a child, a reborn or realistic baby doll could be introduced to help them cope with the loss in a positive environment. 

“Play therapy is able to be incorporated with other treatment modalities.” Goodtherapy.org. This can also help create a relationship with the therapist and its patient by giving them a way to open up to their client with positive reinforcement. It helps in dementia patients or adults in homes by giving them an opportunity to be able to socialize with the doctors and other patients who reside there. They are able to create relationships, and talk about their problems without feeling negatively. 

“Positive psychology is based on science and often uses the scientific method to make analyses. It is simply taking the flip side of traditional psychology (figuring out what makes us depressed, anxious, etc.) and focusing on positive attributes (what makes us feel pleasure, positive thinking, happiness).” vantagepointrecovery.org This can explain play therapy because with adults they are able to find things that make them happy, like a hobby. It helps give them a positive standpoint without automatically talking about the negative. It can give the patient positive feelings with the doctor, find out what reduces their stress, help them socialize in homes, and overall feel better about themselves. 

With this being said, play therapy is important to adults in homes. It is important because it reduces stress, and helps them work out negative feelings. It can help the patient overall feel positive because they have something that makes them feel happy. In play therapy with adults, it is also recognized that in play therapy, “we noticed alertness, and increased capability to provide responsive answers to questions” By using play therapy with adults, they are able to work on cognitive things like video games, or card games or even imaginative play with dolls or stuffed bears. This type of play can also help with memory and help them be able to remember times that they previously weren’t able to remember.  

References 

“7 Benefits of Applied Positive Psychology and Why It Matters.” Vantage Point Recovery, 17 Sept. 2021, https://vantagepointrecovery.com/7-benefits-of-applied-positive-psychology/. 

Team, GoodTherapy Editor. “Play Therapy.” GoodTherapy, GoodTherapy, https://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/types/play-therapy. 

Melinda. “Stress Symptoms, Signs, and Causes.” HelpGuide.org, 24 Mar. 2022, https://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/stress-symptoms-signs-and-causes.htm#:~:text=When%20you%20feel%20threatened%2C%20your,and%20your%20senses%20become%20sharper. 

Podetize@administrator.com. “Play Therapy for Adults Receiving Psychotherapy Treatment.” Unicorn Life Training, 25 June 2021, https://unicornlifetraining.net/play-therapy-for-adults-under-psychotherapy/. 

Play Therapy with Adults – Uni Scholarworks at the … https://scholarworks.uni.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1825&context=grp. 

“Play Therapy with Adults.” Google Books, Google, https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=yFaOsNkWTvsC&oi=fnd&pg=PA271&dq=adult%2Bplay%2Btherapy%2Bin%2Bpatients%2Bwith%2Bdementia&ots=Km6GLq3CIW&sig=mmgNi8oRUPkU1nxAfm4zFB20YsM#v=onepage&q=adult%20play%20therapy%20in%20patients%20with%20dementia&f=false. 

Play Therapy with Adults – Uni Scholarworks at the … https://scholarworks.uni.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1825&context=grp. 

Lynn Louise Wonders 22 Apr 2018, et al. “Play Therapy with Adults.” The Play Therapist, 8 June 2018, https://theplaytherapist.com/play-therapy-adults/.