Filial Play & Filial Play Definition
Filial play and filial therapy are relatively recent applications that use play to help infants under the age of
3 as well as children up to the age of 14, in their mental and emotional
development which for some reason, such as attachment issues, may be
impaired. It is also designed to improve
parent/child relationships.
Filial play also directly involves parent/s and
carer/s. One method is to provide parents/carers with
basic play therapy skills to use at home. However there are ethical issues to
be considered as well as the pressure being put on parents to carry out
therapy. The preferred PTUK approach is to provide coaching/mentoring for
parents/carers in nurturing skills and how to play non-directively with their
children. PTUK has recently accredited the
APAC Filial Play Coach/Mentor Certificate course.
See also:
Back to The Therapeutic Play
Continuum