Copy of Play Therapy Across the Lifespan: Why Healing Through Play Isn’t Just for Little Kids

Robyn Reyna, LPC-S, RPT-S, RST
2 hours ago
5 min read

Different tools. Same purpose. Lasting impact.

When many people hear the words play therapy, they picture a small child sitting on the floor with toys, puppets, or a dollhouse. Because of this, there’s a common belief that play therapy is only helpful for young children.

But the research tells a much bigger story.

Play therapy is not simply “playing.” It is a developmentally responsive, research-supported therapeutic approach that helps people express emotions, process experiences, strengthen relationships, and heal through connection, creativity, and safe emotional exploration.

And importantly: it can support healing across the lifespan.

While the strongest research base is still with children, growing evidence also supports developmentally adapted play-based approaches with teenagers and adults.

What Is Play Therapy?

Play therapy uses developmentally appropriate, relationship-based experiences to help people communicate and process emotions in ways that feel safer and more natural to the nervous system.

For young children, this may involve:

pretend play,
toys,
sandtray,
art,
storytelling,
or movement.

For teenagers and adults, play-based therapy may look very different. It may include:

creative expression,
experiential activities,
sandtray work,
role-play,
games,
metaphor,
mindfulness,
expressive arts,
or relational activities.

The goal is not simply to “play.”

The goal is healing.

Play therapy helps create emotional safety while supporting:

emotional regulation,
self-expression,
relationship building,
resilience,
problem-solving,
and emotional processing.

Why Play Matters for the Brain

Human beings do not process experiences through words alone.

Emotions, stress, trauma, relationships, sensory experiences, and memories all involve emotional, physiological, and relational systems in the brain and body. Sometimes people can explain what happened logically while still feeling emotionally overwhelmed or “stuck.”

Play-based and experiential approaches can help people access emotions, experiences, and relational patterns in ways that feel safer and more manageable than direct verbal discussion alone.

This is especially important for children, whose brains are still developing the language and emotional skills needed to fully describe complex experiences.

But it can also matter for teenagers and adults.

Healing often happens through:

connection,
creativity,
emotional safety,
symbolic expression,
curiosity,
and meaningful relationships.

Those needs do not disappear with age.

Play Therapy for Young Children

Young children naturally communicate through play long before they can fully explain emotions verbally. A child may not be able to say:

“I feel anxious, disconnected, overwhelmed, and unsure how to regulate my emotions.”

But they may absolutely communicate those experiences through:

themes in play,
emotional expression,
storytelling,
repetition,
sensory exploration,
or symbolic experiences.

Research on Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT) has shown positive outcomes for children experiencing:

anxiety,
trauma,
behavioral challenges,
emotional dysregulation,
social difficulties,
and relationship concerns.

Research also supports positive outcomes for preschool-aged children, including improvements in:

emotional regulation,
interpersonal relationships,
social skills,
and behavior concerns.

Play is not “extra” for children.

Play is one of the primary ways young brains learn, connect, communicate, and heal.

Teenagers Need More Than “Just Talking,” Too

Teenagers are often expected to process emotions verbally like adults. But adolescence is a period of enormous emotional, neurological, and relational change.

Many teens struggle to fully express:

identity confusion,
stress,
anxiety,
shame,
social pressure,
grief,
trauma,
or emotional overwhelm through conversation alone.

Play-based approaches with teens may include:

art,
music,
games,
sandtray,
collaborative activities,
movement,
metaphor,
role-play,
or experiential interventions.

Importantly, teen play therapy does not look like therapy for a preschooler.

It is adapted developmentally to meet teens where they are.

Research increasingly supports play-based and expressive approaches for adolescents, including benefits related to:

emotional expression,
trauma processing,
stress reduction,
depression,
and emotional regulation.

Many teens who feel guarded or resistant in traditional therapy settings may engage more openly when therapy feels collaborative, creative, and emotionally safe rather than highly pressured or interrogative.

Adults Benefit from Play, Creativity, and Experiential Healing Too

Perhaps the biggest misconception about play therapy is the idea that adults somehow “outgrow” the need for play.

In reality, adults continue to benefit from:

creativity,
imagination,
symbolic processing,
experiential learning,
movement,
emotional expression,
and safe relational experiences throughout life.

Adult play-based therapy may involve:

sandtray therapy,
expressive arts,
mindfulness,
metaphor work,
experiential therapies,
somatic approaches,
or therapeutic games and activities.

The evidence base for adult play therapy is still smaller than the child research literature, but emerging evidence — especially around sandplay and experiential approaches — is promising.

These approaches may support adults experiencing:

stress,
trauma,
anxiety,
relationship challenges,
emotional disconnection,
or difficulty accessing emotions through words alone.

Adults do not need to “play like children” to benefit from play-based therapy.

Instead, experiential approaches help create opportunities for reflection, emotional processing, connection, insight, and healing.

Play Therapy Heals at Every Age

The form of play therapy changes across development.

But the human need for:

connection,
emotional safety,
expression,
creativity,
and meaningful relationships remains lifelong.

A young child may process emotions through dolls and pretend play.

A teenager may process emotions through art, music, metaphor, or collaborative activities.

An adult may process experiences through sandtray, storytelling, experiential therapy, or expressive work.

Different tools.Same purpose.

Healing.

What the Research Says

Research strongly supports Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT) for children ages 3–12, including improvements in:

emotional well-being,
behavior,
social functioning,
and relationships.

Studies also support positive outcomes for preschool-aged children experiencing trauma, stress, and emotional or behavioral challenges.

Growing evidence supports play-based approaches for teenagers, particularly around emotional regulation, trauma, and depression.

Research on sandplay and experiential approaches also suggests positive outcomes for adolescents and adults across a range of emotional and relational concerns.

The strongest evidence base remains with children, but the research continues to grow across the lifespan.

Final Thoughts for Parents

Sometimes parents worry that play therapy “doesn’t look like real therapy” because it may not involve sitting and talking the entire session.

But healing is not always verbal.

Children, teens, and even adults often process experiences more effectively when they feel:

emotionally safe,
connected,
curious,
creative,
and understood.

Play therapy is intentional, evidence-informed, and deeply relational.

It is not about “just playing.”

It is about helping people heal in ways that match how human beings naturally grow, connect, and process experiences.

And that healing can happen at every age.

References

Association for Play Therapy. (n.d.). Research and evidence base for play therapy. Association for Play Therapy

Bratton, S. C., Ray, D., Rhine, T., & Jones, L. (2005). The efficacy of play therapy with children: A meta-analytic review of treatment outcomes. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 36(4), 376–390. https://doi.org/10.1037/0735-7028.36.4.376

Lin, Y.-W. D., & Bratton, S. C. (2015). A meta-analytic review of child-centered play therapy approaches. Journal of Counseling & Development, 93(1), 45–58. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6676.2015.00180.x

Roesler, C. (2019). Sandplay therapy: An overview of theory, applications and evidence base. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 64, 84–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2019.03.001

Below is quick infographic for reference. Or you can download a PDF HERE.