Play & Expressive Arts Therapy

What Is Play & Expressive Arts Therapy?

The Language of Healing Doesn't Have to Be Words

Children and adolescents often cannot articulate their inner experience the way adults can: not because they lack feelings, but because language is not always the right vehicle for processing what they've been through. Play therapy, art therapy, sand tray, and expressive arts approaches create a safe space where children can communicate through action, image, symbol, and story.

At Yoffe Therapy, we offer play and expressive arts modalities as part of a broader attachment-informed and trauma-sensitive approach. Our clinicians are trained to read the meaning in play, the stories children tell through their choices of figures, their scenes in the sand tray, and their artwork. They respond therapeutically in ways the child's nervous system can receive. These approaches are not "just playing." They are evidence-informed interventions with strong clinical roots.

Who This Specialty Is For

✦ Children ages 3–12 who have experienced trauma, loss, or disrupted attachment
✦ Teens who are resistant to traditional talk therapy
✦ Adoptive and foster children processing their story
✦ Kids dealing with anxiety, grief, behavioral challenges, or school difficulties
✦ Children who have been through abuse or neglect

Treatment Approaches

Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT)

A non-directive, relationship-based approach where the child leads the play and the therapist reflects, tracks, and responds therapeutically.

Sand Tray Therapy

Children and adults create miniature scenes in sand as a way of expressing the unconscious, processing trauma, and exploring inner worlds in a concrete, contained space.

Art Therapy

Using visual art-making such as drawing, painting, and collage as a therapeutic tool for expression, processing, and meaning-making.

Expressive Arts / Narrative Therapy

Combining storytelling, movement, drama, and imagery to help children externalize problems and author new narratives about themselves.

Find a Child and Teen Specialist

Our clinicians who specialize in play and expressive arts work with children as young as 3, and with teens who are ready to communicate in their own way.

Meet Our Therapists →