Trauma-informed care fundamentally shifts the approach to play — recognizing that most play has trauma roots that require specific attention.
What Trauma-Informed Care Means for Play
Trauma-informed care for play is organized around core principles:
- Safety: Creating physical and emotional safety before exploring play
- Trustworthiness: Consistent, predictable care relationships
- Choice: Supporting client control over play treatment decisions
- Collaboration: Partnership rather than hierarchy in play treatment
- Empowerment: Building strengths alongside addressing play
Why Trauma-Informed Play Treatment Is Different
Standard play treatment often focuses on symptom reduction. Trauma-informed care asks: what happened that created these play symptoms? Addressing roots produces more lasting change.
Finding Trauma-Informed Play Care
Ask prospective therapists: 'What is your training in trauma-informed care?' and 'How do you integrate trauma awareness into play treatment?'