Somatic Experiential Play Therapy

As a parent, watching your child struggle is one of the hardest things there is. Maybe they're having big emotional outbursts that seem to come out of nowhere, or they've withdrawn, stopped wanting to do things they used to love, or started having trouble at school. Maybe something happened — something difficult — and you can see that they're carrying it, even if they can't find the words to say so. You want to help. But you're not sure where to start.

That's where we come in. We offer specialized therapy for children using Somatic Experiential Play Therapy — an approach that meets kids exactly where they are, in the language they understand best: play.

What Is Somatic Experiential Play Therapy (SEPT)?

SEPT utilizes play based metaphor and somatic tracking to support a child’s nervous system in therapeutic, child-directed, experiential play. SEPT is rooted in Somatic Experiencing created by Peter Levine and Experiential Play Therapy created by Byron Norton.

The integration of these two theories creates a fantastic mechanism for change that allows children to use their natural language, play, to find healing within.

When children are struggling with big emotions or overwhelming circumstances, their emotions often come out through their behavior as they attempt to gain a sense of control. When a child is not able to complete defensive or protective responses in the moment of trauma or overwhelm, those thwarted natural protective impulses will stay in the child’s body and will come out sideways in their behaviors and play. 

The child’s attempt to manage the overwhelm often looks like a lack of control externalized by big behaviors and meltdowns (fight/flight responses) or shut down and withdrawal (freeze responses). These types of behaviors can seem alarming to adults and caregivers, but they can be indicators of areas in which the child needs extra support to process emotional and physiological stressors.

While children will often work through these big feelings and responses on their own or with their parents, they will at times need the support of a grounded adult and a safe therapeutic environment to process these stuck protective impulses out of their bodies.  This leads to healing in the nervous system and repair in the heart of the child.  This is the goal of SEPT.

How does it work?

SEPT is grounded in two principles of change.  Change occurs when children can tell their stories through metaphor based play and when their nervous systems can externalize the thwarted protective responses stuck in their bodies.  

SEPT equips clinicians to understand and respond to the metaphorical representations of a child’s internal emotional state and circumstances using child-directed, experiential play. The therapist is an integral part of the play and is involved in the child’s story through character play and interaction within the session led by the child. In addition, SEPT provides a template for clinicians to learn how to track a child’s body and nervous system, evaluating for thwarted or stuck impulses and supporting the completion of these defensive responses through the play without leading or interfering with the child’s play. 

This finely nuanced modality allows children to process their overwhelming emotions as well as reclaim their own sense of connection to their bodies, leading to an increased sense of empowerment, self esteem, and well-being.