Ali Stevens Mains-Play Therapist

10/10/2025

27/08/2025

Bullying can come in different forms and can often be hard to spot. The distress of bullying may present in changes in your child, subtle changes such as hyper-vigilance, anxiety, avoiding certain settings, somatic feelings, reduced self esteem and friendship troubles.

Play therapy can help children process painful feelings that come from the distress of being bullied. Strong feelings of anger, shame and humiliation can be safely expressed and explored as children move to playing out scenarios where they are assertive, confident, powerful and boundaried in reacting to the bullying.

Play therapy can also support the child who is actively bullying Giving them a safe space to express feelings of anger and revenge as they explore the experiences that drive them to bully others. This helps the need to bully diminish and allows them to start playing out different ways of being in social relationships, practicing new ways of feeling and acting that they can take into the real world.

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18/08/2025

14/07/2025

Parents and carers are often key to observing changing behaviours of their children as they know them best. They can see what may be out of character or what may be unusual behaviour. The question we can ask ourselves is what is behind this and how can we help. Early recognition, if there is a known problem, worry or emotional struggle and search for support can be valuable to them and you, as parents/carers.