secure attachment between child and caregiver by supporting the full and healthy expression of emotions and exploration of self and other (Beijan, 2020). Play therapy creates opportunities for caregivers to attune to the physical, attachment, and behavioral requirements of the child, increasing their bond (Gardenhire et al., 2019). When a disruption of attachment occurs or attachment needs increase, play therapy has been shown to weave together the threads of attachment fostering a feeling of cohesion and connectedness with one’s family (Chen et al., 2021).


 Play is also linked to a variety of health advantages. Play provides  motor abilities, increases the flow of blood to the brain, improves lung performance, strengthens the heart, and increases muscle, bone, and joint health (Kemple et al., 2016). In addition, play increases inputs from the vestibular and proprioceptive networks allowing for enhancement of overall sense of body position, movement, and acceleration (Krokos et al., 2016; Cullen & Taube, 2017). Play therapy, in turn, has the opportunity to use  feels and the brain thinks.


Neurobiological Components  neurodevelopment. The brain is built from the bottom up and is adherently devoted to survival (Seigel, 2020). It has thousands of neural networks, with the most neurons being present at birth (Gaskill & Perry, 2018). While this article cannot explore every facet of the brain, the author will address some of the key components.


Back of the Brain The back of the brain contains two important survival components: brain stem and limbic system. The brain stem controls the circulatory and respiratory system along with hunger and thirst. It is the part of the brain that asks, “Am I safe?” (Goodyear-Brown, 2019). If the brain can conclude that it is safe, there is more opportunity for access to other parts of the brain.


The limbic system is the brain’s “alarm system,” and includes the thalamus, or the watchtower, which is always scanning for danger; hypothalamus, which releases adrenaline and cortisol once a threat is perceived (Seo  and hippocampus, which attaches feelings to both implicit (unconsciously housed) and explicit (conscious awareness) memories, and is responsible for memory retrieval.


Front of the Brain The pre-frontal cortex, where executive functions reside, cannot be accessed when the back of the brain is activated. Executive functions include skills such as thinking/reasoning, judgement, focus, emotional control, working memory, and self-monitoring (Michael & Loftis, 2021). Therefore, if a child is in the middle of a “meltdown,” they cannot access the part of the brain necessary to answer questions of “Why did you do that?” or follow commands such as “You need to calm down!”


CLINICAL EDITOR’S COMMENTS: Understanding of the brain strengthens the


play therapist’s ability to meet client needs and 


Neural Pathways Neural pathways attach feelings to experiences. They are synaptic connections created from interactions with people and the environment and are like roadways in the brain. Gaskill


(2018) notes that every


interaction a child has with an adult conveys to the child something negative or positive about


themselves. Once that experience has


occurred, a neural pathway is built and cannot be undone. Neural pathways can, however, be changed (DeMaster et al., 2019).


 therapists to understand the


 their counseling frameworks, as


well as how to implement neuroscience discoveries into theory and practice.


The diverse phases of plasticity in the human brain enable the growing brain to adjust in response to crucial environmental stimuli. Positive environmental influences such as loving and responsive caregiving enhance healthy brain development (DeMaster et al., 2019). A child who has a good experience during attachment will develop strong neural pathways of “I’m loved,” “I’m safe,” “I’m capable.” Unfortunately, while brain structures and neural networks are actively developing, the effects of unfavorable events and persistent environmental stressors such as attachment


injury and trauma are particularly disruptive to


neurocircuitry (DeMaster et al., 2019). These negative pathways may relay messages such as, “I’m not good enough,” “I don’t matter,” “I’m not safe.” Available neural pathways become the “lens” through which the brain will perceive social, emotional, and verbal interactions. Pleasant          maturation, while negative messages inhibit neural activity and may result in chronic hypo-arousal (i.e. withdraw, isolate, “shut down”) or hyper-arousal (i.e. easily distracted, emotional outbursts, (Gaskill & Perry, 2019).


irritability) www.a4pt.org | June 2022 | PLAYTHERAPY | 15


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44