Theraplay is an action-based therapy aimed at building secure attachment between a child and their parent or caregiver. Although it has been popular in the US since the 1950s, it is only just beginning to build awareness in the UK, with the Chicago-based Theraplay Institute delivering regular training sessions over here.
The technique addresses four essential qualities found in parent-child relationships - structure, nurture, engagement and challenge - and uses a play-based approach to enhance interaction.
Touch, eye contact and 'parentese' are all important, as Finnish child psychiatrist Jukka Makela points out in a recent article for the institute's newsletter.
She says that the calming and stimulating way of speaking throughout the sessions helps to foster more positive interaction and 'creates a resonant hum of emotions, through noticing the minutest cues of the child and responding to them'.
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