Expert Play Therapy Services in Orlando
It often starts with small shifts. A normally cheerful child becomes distant. Tantrums pop up more often. Sleep becomes a nightly battle. Or maybe it’s hard to tell what’s changed—just a lingering feeling that something’s not quite right.
As a parent, you know your child better than anyone. And when something feels off, it’s natural to wonder: Are they trying to tell me something… but just don’t have the words?
Children don’t always explain what they’re going through—but they do express it. Through behavior. Through play. Through the worlds they create with blocks, drawings, dolls, or games.
That’s why play therapy can be so powerful.
At Total Life Counseling Center (TLC) in Orlando, we offer children a space where they can safely explore their emotions, process experiences, and reconnect with their sense of self—without pressure, judgment, or the need to “talk it out” like adults do.
Whether your child is navigating trauma, anxiety, ADHD, emotional overwhelm, or major life changes, our licensed and registered play therapists are here to help. We use research-based, child-centered techniques—from creative therapies to attachment-focused approaches—to support healing, build resilience, and restore balance.
Ready to take the next step?
We’d be honored to walk beside you. Because when children feel safe, supported, and seen—they thrive.
What Are The Different Types of Play Therapy Services?
Orlando presents a diversified range of play therapy services. From addressing complex trauma and attachment concerns to providing innovative counseling services and focusing on family dynamics, these therapies offer tailored approaches to support children’s healing. Each therapy type has a unique approach and can equip children with crucial life skills while navigating their everyday challenges.
Trauma and Attachment-Based Play Therapy
At the core of the therapeutic journey lies Trauma and Attachment-Based Play Therapy. This approach uses the child’s natural language of play to foster healing from traumatic experiences and develop secure relational patterns. Therapists adept in this method employ the child’s organic behavior during play to understand their emotional state better, guide them towards resolution, and promote healthier relationships.
One such technique within this therapy is EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), a transformative method that helps children overcome the painful memories caused by disturbing experiences. By focusing on specific eye movements, EMDR stimulates both hemispheres of the brain, allowing the child to process and release traumatic memories effectively.
Furthermore, Sand Tray Therapy, another tool in the trauma and attachment-based therapy arsenal, provides children a safe space to express their emotions and experiences using miniature figures in a sandbox setting. This therapeutic process grants them the freedom to explore and verbally communicate their apprehensions, thereby fostering an understanding of their feelings and associations.
Creative Insights Counseling
Within Orlando, a premier form of play therapy service comes in the form of Creative Insights Counseling. Offering services for children, teens, parents, and young adults, these therapists tap into the scope of art and play to foster self-discovery, growth, and resilience.
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Services |
Description |
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Individual Play Therapy |
Targeted at children aged 3-12, this form of therapy provides one-on-one sessions where the therapist evaluates the child’s behavior, understanding, and coping mechanisms during the play process. |
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Group Play Therapy |
Group sessions designed for children ages 5-10; it encourages them to interact with peers, develop empathy, and leverage social learning processes. |
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Online Parent Group |
These online forums are designed to empower parents with valuable insights, helping them strengthen their bond with their child and efficiently deal with problematic behaviors. |
Therapists under this domain effectively blend art/play with empirical therapeutic interventions, forming a dynamic combo to help their clients overcome life adversities.
Why Play Therapy is Essential for Kids’ Development
Play therapy might look like just fun and games from the outside—but there’s so much more going on beneath the surface. It’s actually a powerful way to support your child’s mental and emotional well-being, especially during important stages of their development.
Through play, children can express feelings they may not have the words for yet. It gives them a safe space to work through tough emotions, learn how to cope in healthy ways, and even understand themselves—and others—a little better.
Let’s take a closer look at how play therapy goes beyond traditional teaching methods and truly helps children navigate their everyday challenges.
How Play Therapy Helps Children Overcome Challenges
Play therapy offers a wide range of benefits to help children work through emotional, social, cognitive, and even physical challenges. With the support of trained and registered play therapists, kids learn how to express their feelings, build empathy, understand their behaviors, and make sense of the world around them.
Different approaches like EMDR can help children process upsetting or traumatic experiences, while Sand Tray Therapy allows them to explore deeper emotions and subconscious triggers in a gentle, non-verbal way.
What makes play therapy so effective is that it creates a safe, child-focused space where your child can feel truly heard and understood. Over time, it helps them gain insight, build confidence, and develop healthier ways to manage big emotions and everyday stress.
Benefits of Play Therapy in Daily Life
Play therapy extends beyond the therapy room, influencing various aspects of a child’s daily life. Some of the key benefits include:
- Improved Communication: Children often find it difficult to express feelings of fear, anger, or anxiety. Play therapy supports children in expressing these and, in turn, vastly improves their communication skills, strengthening their relationships with others.
- Boosted Self-esteem: Success experiences in therapeutic plays encourage positivity and breed self-confidence in children.
- Development of Problem-Solving Skills: Play therapy activities enable children to confront problematic scenarios, thereby promoting critical thinking and problem-solving abilities.
- Emotional Healing: Therapeutic play brings children into contact with suppressed or unresolved emotional issues, allowing them to experience emotional relief and healing.
Parent Groups and Support
Parent groups serve as beneficial allies in ensuring the success of the play therapy process by providing:
- Interaction Opportunities: Parents can exchange insights and experiences, offering mutual support.
- Understanding Child Behavior: They offer critical knowledge about child behavior management and coping strategies.
- Enhanced Parenting Skills: Parents gain insight into better parenting techniques, improving their understanding and interaction with their children.
- Consistent Follow-ups: Regular meetings ensure continuity of the treatment plan and ensure that the child gets the maximum advantage out of the therapy.
Maintaining Consistency Between Sessions
Keeping a steady rhythm between play therapy sessions is really important—it helps your child get the most out of their time in therapy. But consistency isn’t just about showing up regularly. It also means creating a supportive environment at home, using some of the techniques we work on in sessions, and encouraging healthy habits in your child’s daily routine.
Staying in touch with your child’s therapist also makes a big difference. It helps us keep track of progress, talk through any questions or concerns, and adjust the approach if needed—so your child always feels supported, both in and out of therapy.
Play Therapy Services at Total Life Counseling
At Total Life Counseling Center (TLC), we believe every child deserves to feel safe, heard, and supported in ways that align with their natural way of expressing themselves—through play. Our specialized play therapy services are designed to meet children where they are emotionally, helping them process big feelings, work through trauma, and build resilience.
Trauma & Attachment-Based Play Therapy
When a child goes through trauma or has disruptions in their early attachments, it can really shape how they see and interact with the world.
They might struggle with trust, emotional regulation, or connecting with others—especially with those closest to them.
That’s where our trauma and attachment-based play therapy comes in. These sessions are built around safe, relationship-focused play that helps your child feel secure again. Through this approach, we gently support them in processing tough experiences, managing big emotions, and slowly rebuilding trust—especially in their bond with you.
It’s especially helpful for children who’ve experienced things like abuse, neglect, adoption transitions, or early separation from a caregiver. Our goal is to help your child feel seen, safe, and connected—one step at a time.
Creative Insights Counseling
Some children just aren’t comfortable expressing themselves with words—and that’s completely okay.
Creative counseling offers a different way for them to open up and heal. Using tools like art, sand play, storytelling, and role-playing, kids can safely explore what they’re feeling and make sense of their inner world.
It’s especially helpful for children dealing with anxiety, depression, big emotional reactions, or trouble with social situations.
Creative insights counseling makes therapy feel engaging and safe—like a space where your child can express themselves freely while learning how to cope with challenges in a healthy, confident way.
At TLC, our licensed play therapists bring together clinical skills and genuine compassion.
Let Total Life Counseling be your trusted partner in your child’s healing journey. Reach out today to schedule a consultation and take the first step toward a brighter, more balanced future.
| Connection starts with understanding. Our autism therapy programs are designed to nurture communication, confidence, and emotional well-being. Let’s take the first step together.Call on +14072480030 |
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Why Choose Total Life Counseling for Play Therapy?
Choosing the right support for your child is one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make. At Total Life Counseling Center (TLC), we honor that responsibility by offering compassionate, evidence-based care that puts your child’s emotional well-being at the heart of everything we do.
Here’s why families across Orlando trust TLC for play therapy:
1. Child-Centered, Family-Focused Approach
We don’t just work with children—we support the whole family. Our therapists partner with parents and caregivers to create a nurturing environment both in and out of the therapy room. You’ll receive tools, insights, and guidance to strengthen your connection with your child and support their progress every step of the way.
2. Specialized, Licensed Play Therapists
All of our play therapy services are provided by clinicians trained specifically in child development and therapeutic play techniques. Our team includes Registered Play Therapists (RPTs) and trauma-informed professionals who bring both clinical expertise and heartfelt compassion to each session.
3. Customized Therapy Plans
Every child is unique—and so is their therapy. We tailor each session to meet your child’s emotional needs, personality, and developmental stage. Whether they’re working through trauma, anxiety, ADHD, or behavioral challenges, we design a plan that meets them exactly where they are.
4. Safe, Engaging, and Supportive Environment
Our therapy spaces are warm, welcoming, and designed to make children feel safe to explore, express, and grow. From the moment they walk through our doors, children are met with empathy, patience, and an environment where healing feels natural.
5. Trusted by Schools, Pediatricians, and Families in Orlando
TLC has built a strong reputation across Central Florida as a go-to resource for child and family mental health support. We’re proud to be recommended by local schools, pediatricians, and countless families who’ve seen firsthand how play therapy can transform a child’s life.
At Total Life Counseling, we believe in the power of play to heal, connect, and empower. We’re here to walk beside your family with care, expertise, and unwavering support.
Licensed Counselors & Therapists
Meet Our Team of Certified & Experienced Professionals
Total Life Counseling Center consists of Licensed Counselors, Masters Level Therapists, Espanol Counselors, Licensed Mental Health Counselors, Business Coaches, Image Enhancement Coaches who provide counseling for emotional, mental, physical and spiritual care including marriage, individual, family, substance abuse and more. Our team of certified and experienced professionals, dedicated to serving a comprehensive spectrum of mental health and relationship issues such as couples, women and men’s issues, children and teens with oppositional defiance, video game addiction, ADHD, ASD, anxiety, depression, and trauma survivors, is here to support and guide you through your journey towards healing and navigating life transitions. This approach not only enhances the effectiveness of the counseling provided but also builds trust within the community and among potential clients, who may be seeking support.
We offer next level counselors specialized in areas such as relationships, video game & drug/alcohol addictions, abuse, trauma, depression, and ADHD. Our Therapists are EMDR (eye movement desensitization) trauma therapy trained, cognitive behavioral therapy, specialize in ADHD and Oppositional Defiant Children, and are also professional Gottman method marriage couples counselors to give the best results to couples and to provide the best comprehensive spectrum of mental health and relationship care for our clients.
Struggling with Anger? We offer 8 hour anger management group therapy!
Discounted Rates and the president of Total Life Counseling Center Jim West does not want to turn people away and we have counselors at various levels of experience at a discounted rate that are trained by our next level counselors!
Brandon Feinberg
MS, LICENSED MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELOR
Male Counselor, Licensed Mental Health Counselor specializing in ADHD, Asperger Syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and more!
Valerie Ware
Psychologist and Behavioral Specialist
Psychological Evaluator, Autism, ADHD, Learning Disabilities, Anxiety, Gifted, Career Pathways, and emotional assessments.
Pedro Michael Valdez IV
MA, LICENSED MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELOR
Licensed Mental Health Counselor specializing in personality disorders, trauma, depression, and anxiety for individuals, families, and couples.
Katherine Waldheim
MS, Registered Mental Health Counseling Intern
Trauma, anxiety, couples counseling, and child & adolescent counseling services and more!
Total Life In The News
Total Life Counseling Play Therapy Experts Have Been Featured On Multiple TV Networks and News Stations:
Our subject matter experts have participated in over 200 national & local news interviews and they are here for you!
At Total Life Counseling Center our Counselors are Experts for National and Local TV, Radio and Print Media. We have an excellent reputation amongst graduate & private schools, attorneys, doctors, therapists, providers and corporations. We strive to ensure our therapists have diverse clinical backgrounds, to allow us to match each client to the therapist that will best meet his or her needs.
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