Play is vital to life. It is a sign of health. Its absence can indicate illness. But what is play? It is a word we use frequently but may find difficult to define. Try coming up with a loose definition for yourself for a moment before reading further about how play in therapy can be transformative.
Now that you’ve thought about it, I’d like to examine the concept of play and how we can integrate play in therapy.
What is play?
“Play” has an enormous number of meanings. We associated it with theater, games, music, sex, sports, pleasure, freedom, creativity, levity, exploration, and much more. This is quite a list! What all descriptions of play have in common, regardless of the context, is an active, engaging, aliveness. Play is full of movement and possibility. And it is these core aspects of play that are so relevant to therapy.
People come to therapy to be heard, to be understood, and to experience change over time. Therapy can provide a setting that supports curiosity, exploration, creativity, and movement. In other words, therapy can support play!
Stephen Porges’ view of play
To explore how this occurs, let’s consider the meaning of play from both a psychological and physiological perspective. For this psychophysiological view, we can turn to the pioneering work of Stephen Porges, creator of Polyvagal Theory and director of the Trauma Research Center at the Kinsey Institute.
Play in animals
Let’s start with two examples of play Porges uses to illustrate his perspective. One is from the animal kingdom and one involves humans. Picture a game of chase between two dogs. One dog is trying to catch the other by biting its rear legs. The one being chased quickly turns around for each leg bite. At these times, the dogs’ eyes meet for a split second, both bark with loud excitement, and they continue racing ahead in further circles.
What’s happening here? How shall we view this odd set of behaviors? Porges argues that a number of things are happening at once. First, the dogs are mobilizing large amounts of energy. They are prepared for defensive (fight or flight) behaviors. However, their excited states do not spin out of control. The dogs’ face-to-face interactions and the tone of their barks let them know that, although they are excited and on the brink of what could become a fight, they are safe and can enjoy this lively activity. They recognize they are playing, not fighting.
Play in humans
Now consider human team sports. We can observe something similar. Team sports usually involve face-to-face interactions and both verbal and nonverbal communication. These ways of communicating are critical for distinguishing between play and outright aggression. If one player bangs into another and then helps them up, there is unlikely to be a fight. If one player bangs into another and walks away without looking, a conflict is far more likely to follow.
In the examples above, both humans and other mammals (such as dogs) constantly interpret cues from the social environment to gauge levels of safety. This occurs rapidly and non-consciously, and is most often based on eye contact, facial gestures, tone of voice, and posture. If we interpret these cues as safe enough, we are likely to feel connection, openness, and pleasure. Otherwise, our defenses will be dominant.
Porges refers to this highly refined evolutionary capacity to assess safety levels as our social engagement system. This capacity allows us to put a ‘brake’ on defensive (fight-flight) reactivity, and to engage with others. In the examples above, the sports players and dogs interpret the social cues (face-to-face interactions and vocalizations) as being safe enough. This allows them to share exciting, challenging and vulnerable states.
Have a look at this chart of social engagement vs. fight-flight and freeze responses.
Therapy as play
With all of this in mind, let’s now return to psychotherapy. As in the examples above, safety is an essential factor when one engages in the challenging terrain of therapy. The therapeutic relationship can provide a container to down-regulate (put a brake on) defensive states. This allows you to feel deep levels of safety while simultaneously being challenged. In the context of an established therapeutic relationship, clients often find themselves able to manage feelings and ideas that have previously been overwhelming. They may also find themselves playing more and more – being curious, exploring, taking risks, accessing creativity, imagining new possibilities. Over time, such “play” can lead to radical shifts in outlook and behavior.
Read more about effective psychotherapy
As we have explored, play has an abundance of meanings in the English language. What these meanings have in common is their vitality. Play is creative, lively, full of movement and possibility. Stephen Porges’ work has revealed the psychophysiological underpinnings of play in a way that was not previously understood. Although he did not set out to create research for mental health practitioners, his work has been embraced by clinicians treating trauma because his findings are so relevant. Play is both a sign of health and a source of healing. Play includes both safety and challenge. Therapy is an ideal setting for these conditions.
At myTherapyNYC, many of our therapists specialize in experiential therapy modalities, including AEDP and Gestalt. If you are interested in finding out how therapy can include a sense of play, reach out for a free consultation today!
Can you think of times that play has opened new possibilities for you in therapy or in daily life? Join the conversation in the comments below!
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1 comment
Zachary, thank you for this fantastic blog. I am such a believer in the power of experience in therapy, and this opens up a whole world of possibility. I love how you note using play in therapy can lead to people, “being curious, exploring, taking risks, accessing creativity, imagining new possibilities. Over time, such ‘play’ can lead to radical shifts in outlook and behavior.” Really well done!