CCPT is a counseling approach in which the child-therapist relationship is the foundation for change.

Children believe they are just playing just like an adult may believe that they are “just talking” in therapy.

CCPT is grounded in decades of research supporting its effectiveness for a wide range of childhood concerns.

Your child is struggling, and you receive a referral to play therapy. You start to make calls and quickly realize it's more overwhelming than expected. Play therapy itself can be hard to grasp, and to make things more confusing, every therapist seems to do it a little differently. Then you come across something called Child-Centered Play Therapy, and it raises questions. "If I let my child take the lead, how is that actually going to help them?"

What Is Child-Centered Play Therapy?

According to Child-Centered Play Therapy International, Child-Centered Play Therapy (or CCPT) is “a counseling approach in which the relationship between the therapist and the child is the foundation for therapeutic change.” In this approach, “the child leads the content of therapy to gain greater levels of self-acceptance, decision making, and coping skills.”

Why We Follow Your Child’s Lead

In CCPT, your child chooses what to play, how to play, and when to change direction. This is by design and one of the most important things that makes this approach work. As a parent, I understand the skepticism. If you are bringing your child into therapy because they are having a hard time regulating their anger, how could letting them be in charge for 45 minutes possibly make things better?

Children communicate differently from adults. They don’t always have the words for what they are experiencing. But, when a child is given a space that is truly safe (where there is no right answer, no performance expected, and no agenda), they naturally begin to move toward what they need to express, process, and heal. The play becomes their language. Child-centered play therapists follow this belief to send your child a message that they are capable and trusted, and the space belongs to them.

Child-Centered Doesn’t Mean the Play Therapist Is Not Doing Anything

A common question I hear is, “So, do you just watch them play in there?” The answer is yes and no. A child may believe they are just playing, just like an adult may believe that they are “just talking” in therapy.

The play therapist is actively present throughout the session, tracking themes or patterns they observe, reflecting feelings, noticing what the child gravitates toward or what they avoid, and observing how they solve problems and how they relate. The play therapist is holding the space with intention and responding in ways that communicate deep acceptance without directing the child’s choices. Though you may have sought counseling to change your child’s behavior, the therapist strives to create an environment where the child knows they are wholly accepted regardless of their behaviors.

I like to compare this to how adults may feel in counseling. If you are struggling with something and come to a therapist, you want them to listen to you and accept you as you are, rather than telling you what to do and immediately trying to change your behaviors. As an adult, you want to feel heard, not managed. We extend the same respect to children and trust their inner capacity to move toward growth and healing the same way we trust adults to do the same.

The Toys Are Selected, Not Collected

I always joke with parents that my playroom does not include a bunch of leftover toys that my daughter was sick of playing with. Rather, the toys in the playroom are chosen with great care. Our belief is that children communicate through play, so toys are their words. Each toy is selected to give children a wide range of expressive possibilities. The toys in the playroom fall into broad categories that allow for different types of communication, including real-life toys, aggressive-release toys, and toys that allow creative expression (Landreth, 2024). When children are introduced to the playroom, the play therapist shows them the room (that always remains the same) and shares that they are able to play with all of the toys in many of the ways that they like. Then, the play therapist takes a seat and lets the child take over. After almost a decade of this work, it is magical to see how children use these toys to express their innermost world.

How Parents Are Included

Parent consultations are a regular and essential part of the CCPT process. Every 3 to 5 weeks, your play therapist will schedule a parent meeting where they will communicate with you about progress, patterns they have observed, and parenting skills that you may find beneficial. Parent consultations are a partnership because you know your child better than anyone else. The play therapist strives to combine your knowledge of your child with what they are observing in the playroom to create the most complete picture and provide the most effective support.

Why Child-Centered Play Therapy Works

CCPT is not a new idea. It is grounded in decades of research supporting its effectiveness across a wide range of childhood concerns, including anxiety, trauma, behavioral challenges, grief, and more. The common misconception is that it is only effective for “mild” concerns rather than a therapeutic approach backed by research showing evidence of its efficacy.

At the core, CCPT is grounded in the profound belief that children have within themselves the capacity to grow when given the right conditions, which include a consistent, warm, accepting relationship with a play therapist who does not judge, direct, or push and is fully present. As a child-centered play therapist myself with a background as a K-12 educator, I can see how magical it can feel to a child to be wholly accepted. And I have seen time and time again that children change when they feel free not to change. This kind of unconditional positive regard is rare because most environments in a child’s life have expectations attached. The playroom may be the one place where a child is accepted as they are, doing exactly what they need to do, at exactly the pace for them.

You may feel skeptical, you may be worried it will take too much time, and it might not look like a lot is happening from the outside. But in the playroom, your child is working, processing, integrating, and building the inner resources they will carry with them long after therapy ends. And I can promise you, it is worth trusting.

Landreth, G. L. (2024). Play Therapy: The Art of the Relationship. Routledge.

https://ccptinternational.org/learn-about-ccpt

https://evidencebasedchildtherapy.com/

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