The Playful Path to Connection: Unpacking Filial Therapy and Family Dynamics. With Helen Gedge

Julie interviews play therapist Helen Gedge about her background growing up in Brazil, how play remains central in her adult life, and her path from primary teaching to play therapy and a PhD. Helen describes research conducted in 2018–19 at a Brazilian shelter home in Curitiba designed to keep mothers and children together after family violence, using filial therapy to teach mothers core therapeutic play skills (structuring special playtime, following the child’s lead, reflecting feelings, and limit setting). Working mainly with three families over an intensive five-week period, she observed that mothers’ empathy scores improved while she was present but worsened when she left the room, leading to the insight that her presence acted as a “holder of holders,” enabling mothers to contain their children. The conversation also covers privilege, culture, and plans to turn the 100,000-word thesis into a book to champion the mothers’ and children’s stories. Send us Fan Mail  Instagram, Facebook, | Linktree