Play Therapy Calgary

Trained play therapists read children through what’s called the projective process — children naturally project their inner world onto the play materials. Without ever directly discussing what’s bothering them, a child reveals it through:

• Themes that repeat across sessions (chasing/being chased, hiding, rescuing, separation, mess, control, destruction-and-rebuilding)
• What gets played and what gets avoided — what your child won’t go near is often as informative as what they obsessively engage with
• How they treat characters — who’s powerful, who’s hurt, who’s left out, who saves the day
• The story arc of play — does the play resolve, escalate, or cycle? Does the “good guy” get rescued or stay stuck?
• Body language, breath, and energy — somatic shifts during specific play themes signal what’s emotionally activated
• Relational patterns with the therapist — how your child connects, withdraws, tests limits, or seeks safety

Over the first few sessions, your therapist builds a clinical picture of what your child is processing internally. You don’t need your child to verbalize the problem for the therapy to address it — that’s the entire premise of the modality. Your therapist will share what they’re observing with you in regular parent meetings, in language that’s clinical but not interpretive (“I’m noticing she’s working through themes of feeling unsafe and not being heard” rather than “this means she’s traumatized”).

Keep it simple, honest, and developmentally matched. What works:

• Younger children (ages 3–6): “We’re going to a special place where there’s a kind person who has lots of toys and games. Her job is to help kids when they have big feelings. You don’t have to do anything special — you just get to play.”
• Middle childhood (ages 7–10): “Sometimes things in our life feel hard or confusing, and it can help to talk to someone outside the family. The person we’re seeing helps kids work things out using games, art, and talking. There’s no right or wrong way to do it.”

What not to say:

• ❌ “You need to go because you’re being bad” — frames therapy as punishment
• ❌ “You need to fix your behaviour” — sets up resistance
• ❌ Over-promising (“this will make everything better”)
• ❌ Over-explaining the diagnosis or family situation in detail before the session

What to do before the first session:

• Show your child the therapist’s photo on our website so they know who they’re meeting
• Drive past the office once if possible so the location feels familiar
• Don’t quiz them after sessions (“what did you talk about?”) — let them volunteer
• Bring a comfort item if your child wants one (stuffed animal, etc.)
• Plan something low-key after the session — sessions can be emotionally tiring

Your therapist will reach out before the first session with any specific guidance for your child’s age and situation.

It depends on your child’s age, attachment style, and the goals of therapy. The general approach at Curio:

• Very young children (3–5) or children with separation anxiety: Parents often stay in the room for the first session or two to help your child feel safe. As trust with the therapist builds, you’ll gradually leave the room — sometimes starting with the door open, then closed, then the waiting room.
• Children ages 6–10: Sessions are usually private between your child and the therapist. Your child needs space to express things they may not say in front of you — not because you’re a problem, but because that privacy is what allows real processing.
• Older children (11–12): Sessions are private, with parent check-ins built in.

Your involvement happens through structured channels:

• Parent-only sessions (every 4–6 weeks or as needed): your therapist updates you on themes, progress, and how to support the work at home
• Three-way sessions when relevant
• Informal end-of-session check-ins: brief 5-minute updates at the door, with your child’s awareness

A skilled play therapist’s job is to support both your child and you — your role as the parent is the most important therapeutic factor in your child’s life, and the therapist will work with you, not around you.

Play therapy progress doesn’t always look like what parents expect — and it often gets worse before it gets better. Here’s what real progress actually looks like, and what it doesn’t:

Early signs (sessions 1–6):

• Your child is willing to attend (or stops protesting)
• Your child mentions the therapist by name or describes the playroom
• Behaviour at home may temporarily worsen — big feelings surfacing in therapy can spill over before they integrate
• You may notice more vocabulary for emotions (“I’m frustrated” instead of just yelling)

Mid-stage signs (sessions 6–15):

• Your child shows more emotional flexibility — recovers faster after upsets
• Sleep, appetite, or routines start to settle
• The presenting concern (behaviour, anxiety, withdrawal) starts to ease, even if not gone
• You see new coping behaviours show up at home (asking for a hug instead of melting down, naming feelings, drawing or playing through tough events)
• Repetitive play themes in session shift or resolve (what was being played out compulsively stops being needed)

What progress is not:

• A linear improvement every week
• Your child spontaneously telling you what they discussed
• Behaviour changing immediately or completely
• Therapy “fixing” everything — it’s a tool that supports your child’s development, not a one-time repair

When to talk to your therapist: if you don’t see any shifts after 8–10 sessions, or if things feel meaningfully worse rather than just unsettled, raise it directly. Your therapist may adjust the approach, increase parent involvement, or refer to a different modality.

At Curio Counselling, play therapy rates depend on your therapist’s designation:

• Canadian Certified Counsellor: $230 per hour
• Provisional Psychologist: $230 per hour
• Registered Psychologist: $230 per hour

Insurance: Play therapy is not covered by Alberta Health Care, but most extended health benefit plans in Alberta cover services provided by Registered Psychologists, and many also cover Canadian Certified Counsellors. Check your plan for two things: which provider designations it reimburses, and your annual coverage maximum. We provide receipts for reimbursement after each session.

If cost is a barrier, mention it during your free 20-minute consultation — we can match you with the therapist designation your benefits actually cover, so your plan does as much of the work as possible.

The core play therapy range is roughly ages 3 to 12, with the strongest fit between ages 4 and 10 — the developmental window where play is a child’s primary language for processing the world.

• Ages 3–5: Absolutely appropriate, often with a parent in the room initially. At this age the work is almost entirely non-verbal.
• Ages 6–10: The sweet spot. Children this age can engage in symbolic play, sandtray work, and expressive arts while gradually adding more verbal processing.
• Ages 11–12 and up: Most pre-teens have outgrown toy-based play, so the therapist shifts toward a blend of expressive approaches — art, sandtray, games, and conversation — often transitioning into child and youth counselling.

No child is “too young” to be affected by what’s happening around them, and no pre-teen is “too old” for expressive work — the modality just adapts. If you’re unsure which approach fits your child’s age and temperament, that’s exactly what the free consultation is for.

Session length: about 50 minutes.

Frequency: weekly, especially in the first stretch. Consistency matters more in children’s therapy than almost anything else — a predictable rhythm is what builds the trust that makes the work possible. As your child stabilizes, sessions are typically spaced to every two weeks, then monthly check-ins before ending.

Total number of sessions: many children show meaningful change within 12 to 20 sessions, but the honest answer is that it depends on what your child is working through:

• A specific, recent stressor (a move, a divorce, the loss of a pet or grandparent) often resolves on the shorter end
• Longstanding anxiety, emotional dysregulation, or complex trauma generally needs longer-term work

Your therapist reviews progress with you at regular parent check-ins, so you’re never guessing whether therapy should continue. One thing we plan deliberately: the ending. Children attach to their therapist, and a planned, gradual goodbye is part of the therapy itself — we don’t stop abruptly.

Free play at home is genuinely valuable — but it isn’t therapy. Three things make the difference:

• The trained therapist. A play therapist tracks themes across sessions and responds in specific clinical ways: reflecting feelings back, setting therapeutic limits, knowing when to follow the child’s lead and when to gently structure the play. These responses are what move a child from repeating a painful theme to resolving it.
• The purpose-built playroom. The room isn’t a toy box — it’s deliberately stocked with categories of materials chosen to invite emotional expression: nurturing toys, aggressive-release toys, real-life miniatures, expressive art supplies, and a sandtray. Each category gives a different feeling a doorway out.
• The therapeutic frame. Same room, same therapist, same day, same boundaries, every week. That predictability signals safety to a child’s nervous system in a way ordinary play environments can’t — and safety is the precondition for processing anything difficult.

The simplest way to put it: a parent playing with their child builds connection. A play therapist uses play as a clinical instrument to help a child process what they can’t yet say. Both matter — they just do different jobs.

Sandtray therapy is one of the expressive modalities we use within play therapy. Your child builds scenes in a tray of sand using shelves of miniature figures — people, animals, vehicles, buildings, fences, fantasy figures, and natural objects like stones and trees.

The tray becomes a contained world where a child can externalize their inner experience. What they build, where they place figures, what gets buried, fenced off, protected, or knocked down — all of it carries meaning. Because the child is showing rather than telling, sandtray is especially powerful for children who are:

• Anxious or shut down in conversation
• Processing experiences they don’t have words for, including trauma
• Working through grief and loss
• Overwhelmed by big family changes like separation or divorce

No artistic skill is required, there’s no right or wrong way to build, and the therapist never forces interpretation onto the scene — the building itself is the processing. Sandtray often pairs naturally with art therapy for children who gravitate toward creative expression.

This is a balance, and it’s worth understanding before therapy starts. Children need a degree of privacy for therapy to work — if a child believes everything they say or play will be reported back to their parents, they stop bringing the real material into the room.

What you will be told: themes, progress, and concrete strategies. In regular parent check-ins, your therapist shares the clinical picture (“he’s working through a lot of worry about being separated from you”) and what to do at home — not a play-by-play of session content.

Where confidentiality always ends — your therapist is legally and ethically required to act, and you will be informed of safety concerns, if:

• Your child is at risk of harming themselves or someone else
• There are disclosures of abuse or neglect of any child
• Records are required by a court order

The specific confidentiality agreement — including how it works with separated or divorced parents — is reviewed with you in plain language at intake, before any sessions begin. If you have a specific concern about what you’ll be told, raise it in the free consultation so expectations are clear from day one.