Play is Hard Work: Using Integrated Play Therapy to Build Social Skills

In the midst of the current changes in family structure, increasing school violence, and children spending more time socializing with media than with people, developing social skills in young children have been a continual challenge.  Additionally, children who have experienced trauma, have ADHD or Autism, or have a challenging home environment, also struggle to relate to others in healthy ways. The language of young children is play. Throughout history, children have learned social norms, roles, as well as social skills through play. This article will review the Play is Hard Work social skills group for four to six-year-old children. This group utilizes games and playful interaction to allow children to connect with each other in meaningful ways. Children are intentionally given opportunities to dysregulate their emotions so that they may then be taught skills to regulate them. Some of the therapeutic interventions drawn upon include: Trust Based Relational Intervention (TBRI), child centered play therapy, Theraplay, and adventure-based counseling. The ultimate goal of this play group is to help children enter the classroom with the skills needed to be more productive and successful, as well as having the skills they need to become fully integrated into their family life. Children become connected and successful by using the learned skills of self-regulation, problem solving, sharing, teamwork, giving and receiving care, perspective taking, negotiation, and showing respect. The content and theoretical practices used in the social skills group are discussed.