West Limerick Resources - "Committed to the Community"

Filial Play

Over recent months West Limerick Resources has been rolling out an innovative programme designed to teach parents how to use some of the same skills that play therapists use to help children experiencing social, emotional, or behavioral problems.

Play Therapy is a long established tool used by professionals working with children experiencing a range of developmental delay difficulties and emotional problems.  It grew out of an understanding that traditional psychotherapy techniques are ineffective with children as they lack the necessary language to articulate their feelings and fears.  Play, not conservation, is the natural way children communicate. Through the use of relevant toys and creative arts, children are allowed to express various emotions and challenges they are facing in their lives.  It is a very unconscious process with the child unaware that how they play can actually give trained professionals an insight into the child's emotions. 

Filial Play is a progression from this where parents are thought the same techniques used by play therapists as a means of building relationships and understanding with their children.  According to Theresa Shanahan, Community Development worker with West Limerick Resources, "Research shows that motivated parents can be as effective as a professional in helping their child.  This ten week programme was rolled out with seven targeted families in Abbeyfeale and Newcastle West as part of a PhD study being completed in Mary Immaculate College.  Filial Play Facilitators Cóilín Ó Braonáin and Siobhán Whyte worked closely with the parents whose children ranged from three and a half to ten years, exploring the techniques and potential benefits of this tool." 

"Filial Play helps strengthen the relationship with the child," according to facilitator Cóilín Ó Braonáin.  "Parents are taught not to ask questions just to reflect back what is happening.  As the relationship with the child is strengthened, emotional problems begin to slip away over time.   A further and pragmatic reason for training parents in filial play is to empower parents in raising their children through the use of their own resources." This was a pilot initiative supported by West Limerick Resources under the Local and Community Development Programme and the HSE through the West Limerick Family Support Project.

Posted on 18/07/2011 by Suzanne Rowley, Information Officer