Infant and Child Therapy
Focusing on the social-emotional development of children, the Melbourne Play Studio team are experienced with anxiety, grief & loss, neurodiversity and psychosocial disability, developmental issues, early life trauma, and the emotional well-being of little people (0-13 years). We are passionate about providing early intervention to help children reach their full potential.
Children learn and communicate through play! Using play and creative based strategies are recommended and appropriate for children 0-13 years experiencing a wide range of developmental and mental health concerns. This includes Play Therapies, Child Psychotherapy, Arts Therapy, and Infant Mental Mealth.
All of our therapists possess considerable experience in working with children all of ages. Our values in supporting children and their families include being infant/child-led, upholding the agency and voices of children, and promoting play and playFULLness however possible.
We are dedicated to working from a strengths-based perspetive, providing a collaborative and consultative service that actively includes parents/caregivers, educators, and other health & allied health professionals to achieve the best outcomes for children.
Women
The team at MPS have been supporting women who have experienced trauma and associated mental health issues for many decades. We understand how trauma effects almost every facet of life and living, and trauma recovery requires an individualised, embodied, and comprehensive approach to healing.
We are dedicated to only using trauma-informed therapies and providing trauma therapy this drawns from a multi-modal approach. This includes Expressive Arts Therapy, body-based or Somatic therapies, neurobiology, EMDR, and relational therapies.
Our particular areas of experience include family violence, childhood abuse and neglect, war and dislocation, and homelessness.
Consultation
Dr Emma offers individual and small group reflective companioning (supervision) for emerging professionals who are working with infants, children, and families providing mental health services or early childhood education. The arts can be incorporated to extend and deepen the reflective spaces moved into.
Emma provides consultation and training for professionals and organisations in family violence, early life trauma, infant mental health, and arts therapy programs for children (E.g., Dept of Education’s School Focused Youth Program).
OUR THERAPIES
& MODALITIES
Play Therapy (3- 13 years)
Children communicate differently to adults. They ‘show’ us how they are feeling, what they are thinking, what someone means to them, and how they experience the world around them through behaviour, emotions, and interactions.
Play is the language of children, and how a child plays can tell us a lot of their inner world. Child Psychotherapy and Play Therapy is the therapeutic use of play to help children with emotional and psychological issues, relational difficulties, developmental challenges. Child Psychotherapy is effective for children from birth through to 18years, and Play Therapy is effective for children 4 years through to early-to-mid adolescence.
Depending on the age and therapeutic goal, therapy can be with the parent and child (dyadic or triadic), or individually with the therapist. Both therapies require advanced clinical training and supervision additional to a mental health degree.
Arts Therapy
Arts Therapy is a psychotherapy that uses expressive and creative methods to improve physical, psychological, and emotional well-being. Although visual art-making such as painting and drawing are common, Arts Therapy is multi-modal and includes other expressive approaches of sand-tray, dance, drama, music, and narrative approaches such as poetry.
Arts Therapy helps us to express experiences, process trauma, and make sense of life events when words cannot. Its benefits are often greatly under-estimated and can be significant for individuals who communicate differently such as speaking another language, being neurodiverse, or living with a disability. The evidence-base in trauma healing is continuing to grow.
Art Therapists will have a master’s degree or Doctorate in a specific field of Arts Therapy.
Infant Mental Health (0-5 years)
Infant Mental Health (IMH) is a specialist field dedicated to infant & early childhood mental health (0-6 years) and their families. This includes babies, toddlers, and preschoolers.
The early years is a period where development of the brain is rapid, tripling in size in the first 3 years. During this period, relationships are central to a child’s well-being and a key determinant of social-emotional development. For young children, their relationships are their entire world and critical in nurturing their capacity to express and experience emotions, learn, and engage with the world around them.
Exposure to early life adversity (E.g., DV/FV, attachment disruption, abuse, neglect, parental separation) and stress (E.g., prolonged illness, family instability, grief and loss) mean young children are susceptible to
developing mental health issues including depression, PTSD, and anxiety, attachment disruptions, or developmental delays.
An Infant Mental Health practitioner is trained in infant and child development, the neurobiology of trauma, and attachment-based interventions to help intervene early with infants and their parent/caregiver. This includes parent-infant interventions, child psychotherapy, play therapy, and group programs.
We are passionate about IMH at the Melbourne Play Studio offering early intervention for young children and their caregivers, so they can flourish and thrive!
Trauma Therapy
Everyone’s experience of trauma is individual, and healing from the emotional, psychological, physical, psychical, and relational impacts take time.
Best practice recommends a comprehensive therapeutic approach grounded in neurobiology and combines somatic or body-based interventions with expressive therapies. The therapeutic relationship is fundamental. Working with a professional who you trust and feel safe with, the trauma is processed together.
The international trauma guidelines recommend EMDR for both adults and children, as well as interventions that strengthen the parent-infant/child relationship. The evidence-base for arts and play therapies for healing trauma continues to grow and are utilised to support focused trauma treatments.
The Melbourne Play Studio therapists are highly experienced supporting children and women with a lived experience of developmental & attachment trauma, PTSD, abuse & neglect, family violence, homelessness, disease/injury/medical trauma, and natural disasters. They have undertaken training in EMDR as well as trauma-focused interventions such as somatic psychotherapy and parent-infant interventions.