CHILD AND FAMILY THERAPY
FAQs

As professionally trained therapists, you guys are the experts. Wouldn’t my child benefit from doing play therapy with you rather than me?

      We are the therapy experts who have mastered skills that we want to impart to families. As parents, you are the expert on your child. Together, Filial Therapy combines all of our strengths to help your child. It has been shown that parents doing play therapy with their own children are more powerful than a professional play therapist doing the same kind of work. This is because your child already has a trusting relationship with you that would be next to impossible for the professional therapist to duplicate. Also, you learn skills that will be useful to you throughout your parenting career.

My child is displaying most of his/her difficulties in school. How will Filial Therapy generalize to the school setting?

      Although your child may be acting out his/her problems in school, it doesn’t necessarily mean the school is the source of the problem. Filial Therapy is designed to help children learn the skills, coping strategies, and internal controls they need to function well in all areas of their life. However, if the teacher is contributing to the problem, we will extend our relationship to the school and visit the classroom to observe your child and give suggestions to the teacher to help your child get on track in class.

How long will we need to be involved with you doing Filial Therapy?

      We generally see families for an average of 10 to 12 sessions over a six month period. For you to become well-trained, we like to see the family for four weekly sessions in a row and then lengthen the time in between sessions in the office as you continue doing weekly play therapy sessions at home with your child. For the best long-term results, we recommend that you continue doing home play therapy sessions for 9 to 12 months.

We don’t have a room in our house that is not being used for something else. How would we set up a playroom in our home?

      You are not required to have a dedicated play room in your house to do Filial Therapy. Rooms most typically used are the basement, family room, or kitchen. Your therapist will help you decide which room is most appropriate and how to structure the room to keep your house safe while making the room a good play therapy setting.

Only one of my children has behavioral problems. Is there any reason to include the other children in the Filial Therapy process?

      Every child benefits from the play therapy process so we like to include all children of play therapy age in the Filial Therapy process. Even if a child does not have problems, the child will receive the benefits of improved self-esteem. Also, children love play therapy and would be jealous of their problematic sibling if they didn’t get their turn. You wouldn’t want your other children to think they have to develop problems to be involved in this very special play with Mom and Dad.

Will you ever talk to my child or will our sessions only focus on learning the client-centered play therapy skills?

      During the first four sessions of Filial Therapy much of the focus is on teaching the parents the skills they need to become excellent play therapists. After you feel comfortable in your role as play therapist, the child meets with you and the therapist to address specific issues that arise. These issues can range from working together as a family to develop more clear and consistent rules and consequences to discussing a family problem such as pending separation/divorce, the death of a family member, or sibling rivalry.

To make an inquiry or an appointment, call 215-355-8812.