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Therapy Tools for Kids

Just as adults talk through their emotion and thoughts when they've experienced something traumatic or are going through a difficult time, children express these thoughts and emotions through play. Talking about something traumatic or difficult can cause children a great deal of anxiety. According to Sheri Fay, "It is through playing that children have a real chance to make sense of what is going on, and most importantly, resolve unconscious conflicts."

  1. Kimochi Dolls

    • Kimochi is a California-based company that makes Kimochi dolls, named after the word for feeling in Japanese. Kimochi dolls are soft, plush, brightly colored dolls in the shape of friendly animals. Each doll comes with three separate feelings in the shaped of small stuffed circles. For example, the feeling for sad is a small stuffed blue circle with a sad face on one side and the name of the emotion of the other side. Kids, when they're experiencing a certain emotion or combination of emotions can insert the emotion in to the mouth or pouch of the stuffed animal. The goal is for kids to use the dolls to talk about their feelings or parents or therapists can use the doll as a springboard for dialog.

    Dolls and Dollhouses

    • Kids from dysfunctional families can express their thoughts and feeling about members of their own family and certain abuses that they've endured by playing with dolls that are miniature versions of their own family. In this case it helps to know how many people the child has in the family, whether a mother and father are present and how many siblings the child has. Give the child the designated dolls and just let the child play naturally with them. Don't judge anything the child does or says to the dolls, just comment on how the dolls might feel. For example, if the child manipulates the father doll and have it hit the mother doll, don't judge the child. Just say something to the effect of "ouch" or "that must hurt" or "I wonder why dad hit mom." Having a child express these things via the dolls can assist him in coping in more constructive ways.

    Art Therapy

    • Art therapy is an incredibly useful tool to allow children to express their emotions about certain traumas that they have experienced as well as overwhelming emotions such as rage. According to art therapist Terry Pifalo, "Art is a non-threatening way to visually communicate anything that is too painful to put into words." This is particularly useful for children who are victims of sexual abuse and have often had their abusers lie to them or threaten them into silence. Art therapy can also help at-risk kids who come from rough neighborhoods and violent homes as a way to find self-expression and self-realization.

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