Child and Carer Therapy

Attachment Therapy

“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow.“
– Radmacher

Our attachment-based intervention works on the premise that a secure relationship can only be built directly between the child and their parent/carer rather than the child or parent/carer in isolation. Whilst we know that children can develop secure relationships with their therapist, which has an essence of attachment, it is not an attachment relationship. Similarly, the parent/carer can develop a secure relationship with their therapist, but this is not easily transferrable between parent/carer and child.

Theraplay

“A child whose behaviour pushes you away is a child who needs connection before anything else”
– Kelly Bartlett

Theraplay is an attachment-based therapy, which uses interactional play to develop experiences of secure attachment strategies between parent/carer and child. Theraplay can be helpful for children who have experienced trauma and or disrupted attachment through loss or bereavement: perhaps the loss of a parent through illness, death or divorce, medical issues, physical, sexual, emotional abuse and neglect. Sometimes children can have difficulty regulating their emotions and may feel anger, hurt, sadness and rejection rooted in their earlier experiences. Children often communicate their distress either externally through their behaviour or internally by withdrawing and dissociation. Theraplay can help children to process these feelings as parents/carers are helped to develop strategies for helping their children.

Filial Therapy

“When little people are overwhelmed by big emotions, it’s our job to share our calm, not to join in their chaos”
– L. R. Knost

This is one of Tiptoes supporting attachment therapies. It can either be provided in its own right or as an adjunct to our own long-standing attachment intervention.

Filial therapy is a type of psychotherapy designed to address emotional and behavioural difficulties in children; it was formulated by Bernard Gurney in 1964. It is based on the principles of play therapy; however, it is distinct from it, in that it helps parents (or other paraprofessionals) understand how to provide therapeutic interventions for children. With respect to older children, filial therapy uses techniques that are adapted to age-appropriate interests and activities.