It’s a Pandemic in the Playborhood: An International Perspective of Play Therapists on the COVID-19 Pandemic

We were curious about…the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health professionals who specialise in play therapy

The COVID-19 pandemic, lockdowns and beyond, impacted many professions and workplaces, including therapists and their therapy rooms. Play therapists are one type of mental health professional who specialise in engaging the therapeutic powers of play for human development and psychological healing. This research explores how the pandemic has changed the physical therapy space (such as the toys and in person or virtual sessions), engages play therapists knowledge about patterns in play behaviour and play content, and asks play therapists to classify the impact of the pandemic based. 

So we…surveyed play therapists around the world

Across 25 countries, 490 play therapists responded to this digital survey of 26 questions. The survey marks the largest and most international sample of play therapists on any research subject to date. The survey was live from December 2022 until June 2023. 

We learned that…

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted not only people’s mental health & wellbeing, but also the profession of play therapy in both the physical space (the playroom) and what was being seen in sessions (content of the play).

Play therapists added pandemic symbols to their therapeutic spaces such as masks, sanitiser, and miniature figures such as toilet rolls and dumpsters on fire, to allow children to represent their current reality in their therapy playroom. They also saw thematic patterns of anxiety, safety/security, chaos/instability, and power/control in children’s play that featured the pandemic during play therapy sessions. This highlights how children were feeling on the topic of COVID-19 and what themes they may need space for to process.

There is a strong agreement between play therapists on how to classify the pandemic’s impact. Nearly 70% of play therapists classified the COVID-19 pandemic as collective trauma, with 83% saying they strongly or somewhat agree that it has had adverse effects on mental health and well-being.

The findings provide considerations for how to move toward pandemic recovery, how to prepare for potential mental health impacts of future global events, and how mental health professionals like play therapists may be able to lend their knowledge and expertise to mental health policy.