When play speaks: symbolism in Play Therapy
A small animal always left alone. A house knocked down again and again. Why a child does not need words to show what is happening inside them.
Children do not always need words to show us what is happening inside them.
A small animal that is always left alone. A hero who must always save the others. Two figures who clash again and again. A house that is destroyed and rebuilt.
Within play, fears, wishes, relationships and inner conflicts can appear that the child cannot yet describe directly.
Play as a symbolic language
Melanie Klein was one of the most important figures in establishing play as a way into the child's inner world.
Through figures, objects, characters and stories, a child can carry elements of their experience into a symbolic scene. Something difficult no longer has to be said directly: it can first be represented.
The French psychoanalytic tradition developed this notion of symbolisation in particular. Play can allow a child's anxiety, relationships and inner experiences to take a form that can gradually be observed and worked through.
There is no “dictionary of symbols”
Symbolic observation, however, does not mean that every object has one fixed psychological interpretation.
A lion does not always mean anger.
A house does not always mean family.
The colour black does not automatically mean sadness.
The same symbol can mean something entirely different for two different children.
What is interesting is the personal meaning it takes on within the story of this particular child: how it is used, what role it is given, what comes before, what comes after, what feeling accompanies it and whether it returns within the play.
Sometimes it is easier to play it
Imagine a child who finds it hard to say:
“I am afraid my mum will leave.”
They may, though, be able to create a story in which a small animal loses its mother and tries to find her.
The experience is there, but it has gained a safer distance.
Within symbolic play a child can approach something difficult at their own pace, without having to explain it before they are ready to.
This is one of the most important features of the symbolic function of play: it creates a space between inner experience and immediate reality.
It does not mean that every game hides a deeper message, nor that every move a child makes needs interpreting.
It means that when a child feels safe enough to play, a different route of communication can open.
Because sometimes, before a child can say what they feel, they first need to be able to play it.
Sources & references (9)
- Klein, M. (1930). The Importance of Symbol Formation in the Development of the Ego. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 11, 24–39.
- Klein, M. (1932). The Psycho-Analysis of Children. Hogarth Press / Institute of Psycho-Analysis.
- Klein, M. (1955). The Psychoanalytic Play Technique: Its History and Significance. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 25, 223–237.
- Winnicott, D. W. (1971). Playing and Reality. Tavistock Publications.
- Winnicott, D. W. (1942). Why Children Play. In The Child, the Family and the Outside World.
- Société Psychanalytique de Paris. La psychanalyse des enfants.
- Wainrib, S. (2003). L’efficacité symbolique de la psychanalyse. L’apport de la psychanalyse et du psychodrame d’enfants et d’adolescents. Société Psychanalytique de Paris.
- Diatkine, R. (1986). Les jeux et les âges. Les textes du Centre Alfred Binet.
- Koukourikos, K., Tzeha, L., Pantelidou, P., & Tsaloglidou, A. (2021). An Overview of Play Therapy. Materia Socio-Medica, 33(4), 293–297.
This text is informational and psychoeducational. It is not a diagnosis and does not replace a session with a mental health professional.