Therapy -Children & Young People

Contact details: mylittlecalmspace@gmail.com

Hello and Welcome!

My name is Cherie and I am the founder of My Little Calm Space a not-for-profit Community Enterprise Company (CIC)

This is a safe space for children and young people, between the ages of 4-13, who can find their own, ‘calm space’ through their play and learn to understand themselves and their world, subsequently growing in self-esteem and confidence.

Through the Play Therapist’s non-directive approach, child ‘clients’ are empowered to use their own inner resources to seek solutions to inner conflicts. They are enabled to bring their ‘Big’ emotions; anger, fear, sadness and anxiety to the play space; as well as exploring their difficult experiences, with the guiding support of their therapist, ‘holding’ their process and where necessary gently ‘nudging’ them along.

Clients choose the activity they engage in, from the Play Therapy Toolkit, including:

Music
Art and Craft activities
Board games and jigsaws
Sand tray work, with ‘small world’ objects – a powerful medium, which can also be employed with adults.
The water tray
Clay work or playdoh
Dressing up and role play
The doll’s house
Messy play, which is popular with all ages.
Creative therapies: therapeutic storytelling, visualisation and mindfulness.

What clients choose to do within the play space is confidential, with the caveat that they agree to the My Little Calm Space Safe Boundaries:

Keep myself Safe

Keep others Safe

Keep equipment safe – not using the Play Therapy Toolkit in a way that might harm them or the therapist

We agree to keep this confidentiality, unless what they tell me means they, or someone they know might be harmed, if we do not pass this information on to a safe adult. (see Safeguarding Policy).

A little bit about me and my journey…

My journey towards setting up My Little Calm Space, started in 2019, while working with our very experienced and talented school counsellor, who was struggling with a client, who wouldn’t sit down, ran around the room, wouldn’t talk or listen to stories. In short at five years old, he was too young to access the support she was able to provide.

This was a light bulb moment for me, as I considered other children in our school for whom talk-based counselling might be difficult to access; children whose speech and language difficulties affected their self-esteem, children of asylum seekers, who spoke no English and who had experienced traumatic events, or neuro-divergent children for whom social communication can be difficult.

Some of these children struggled with emotional, behavioural or social difficulties, which often impacted heavily on their access to education. We as dedicated professionals, weren’t even always aware of the root causes of these difficulties. Therefore, how could we as a school help them?

There had to be another approach to engage and support these children in a therapeutic way. Fortunately, I spotted a potential solution in the form of training, including the setting up of a Therapeutic Play Space in a school setting. I took this problem to my headteacher, who equally concerned, agreed to fund my training and thus I began my journey.

With a truly inspirational trainer, my first ‘Play Space’ was formed and I found myself providing therapy for children in the school, from the ages of four to 11 years old.

I discovered that this form of therapy, required no talk, but it did require a great deal of empathy, understanding and the need to respond sensitively to the problems and challenges my clients brought to the play space.

My clients communicated verbally, when ready to, but more often they communicated through their play, using symbols and metaphor, while I listened and observed and as they gradually gained confidence, I was ‘invited’ to join in. I began to gently guide them in their process, ‘offering’ a therapeutic story, visualisation, or personalised activity when appropriate, but using Virginia Axline’s Principles and not rushing ‘their’ process along.

https://trustthechild.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Axlines-Principles-Poster.pdf

Now, almost six years later my journey continues. It may appear that Play Therapy works in almost ‘magical’ ways, but of course I now realise our understanding of neuro-science and human psychology explains at least some of this ‘magic’. However, I remain in awe of the capacity, ingenuity and resilience of my clients, as they journey towards finding their own ‘inner’ little calm space.

Why not journey with me, by dropping into this webpage, as I develop My Little Calm Space further.

Know any child or young person who might benefit from Play Therapy?

Why not get in touch for more information:

Contact details:

mylittlecalmspace@gmail.com

Leave your details and I’ll get back to you.

My credentials:

Qualifications

Level 3 Award in Mental Health and Therapeutic Approaches in Schools 2022

Post Graduate Certificate in Therapeutic Play Skills Level 7 2023

Diploma in Play Therapy Level 7 2025

Relevant experience: