​​​​Morgan Belveal

Today, children face many barriers in their play. These barriers may be physical, emotional, societal, or even psychological. What is interesting though is the actual barrier itself. Physical disabilities, for example, are not as large of a barrier as society would like us to think that they are. If society offers XYZ options for play and a person in a cast can’t play in that way, we are quick to assume they can not play. Instead, when we work with them to discover alternate

Play is the language of children. It is how they communicate deep thoughts and emotions. Not only is play the language of childhood but it is also the way we measure development in the lives of children. These two factors make play a perfect medium for therapy. Play therapy affords trained specialists and children a medium through which they can communicate on a deeper level than most children under the age of ten have the ability to communicate verbally. Similarly to sand pl

Creativity is the lifeline of childhood exploration. Children utilize creativity to discover hobbies, role models, methods of success, and failure. Because childhood is a relatively modern concept, we are still learning ways to capitalize on this natural component of development to support the appropriate development paths of young people. In class this week, we looked at two therapy tools that utilize the natural creative nature of children to dig deep into their natural psy

Play is an innate part of child and human development. It extends beyond emotional and social satisfaction and supports the overall growth and development of people. As a result, it makes perfect sense that play has a meaningful and practical role in therapy. In this instance, we learned about, practiced, and reflected on the power of sand play therapy. The exercise started in our homes as we engaged in a creative process. For me, this process was graphic design. In conversat