Creative Play-Based DBT Activities for Children and Their Caregivers

Children feel emotions in many ways. At times the intensity of children’s emotions may be create difficulties at school, home, and social settings, and obstruct children’s relationships with others in their lives. Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) has been proven as an evidencedbased intervention for teenagers and adults with various mental health diagnoses that focus on mindfulness, interpersonal relationships, distress tolerance, and emotional regulation. This helpful workbook will translate DBT principles through play therapy informed activities for children and their parents since children learn best through play. Supportive activities and techniques for use in the therapy room and at home with children are provided to assist children in managing their emotions and strengthen their relationships. Children need mediums to express themselves in order to channel their internal conflicts when posed with varying factors which contribute to a child’s inability to conceptualize their world. Blending the facilitative powers of DBT and play therapy will allow children to utilize the needed tools and techniques to process their internal conflicts. DBT techniques such as mindfulness, interpersonal reflective, emotional regulation, and distress tolerance, as well as play therapy techniques will be combined. Utilizing these skills while combining the therapeutic powers of play will allow children to play out these presenting challenges to better understand their world and the contributing factors which lead to their dysregulation and inability to cognitively process that which they cannot verbalize due to their limited cognitive ability.