Therapists in Des Moines, IA
![Photo of Mike Stubbs - Clear Brook Counseling Professionals, LMFT, CADC, CCH, Marriage & Family Therapist](https://photos.psychologytoday.com/f480ea6d-0127-4ece-9e7d-954e7d8cd98d/2/320x400.jpeg)
Clear Brook Counseling Professionals
Marriage & Family Therapist, LMFT, CADC, CCH
Verified Verified
2 Endorsed
Des Moines, IA 50309
NOW OFFERING MEDICATION MANAGEMENT IN ANKENY AND AMES. At Clear Brook Counseling Professionals, we work together to provide you the therapy - family, couples, or individual that will deliver the best results for your unique needs. We believe life has meaning, and every moment is worth living. That's the end goal. At Clear Brook you'll experience a team of counselors, proven treatment, and techniques that work. The process is about finding clarity in the situation, and seeing change. Clear Brook Counseling Professionals weave proven practices and life-exercises into your therapy to help foster results.
NOW OFFERING MEDICATION MANAGEMENT IN ANKENY AND AMES. At Clear Brook Counseling Professionals, we work together to provide you the therapy - family, couples, or individual that will deliver the best results for your unique needs. We believe life has meaning, and every moment is worth living. That's the end goal. At Clear Brook you'll experience a team of counselors, proven treatment, and techniques that work. The process is about finding clarity in the situation, and seeing change. Clear Brook Counseling Professionals weave proven practices and life-exercises into your therapy to help foster results.
Online Therapists
![Photo of Stephanie M. Combs - Combs Psychotherapy L.L.C., MSW, LCSW, Clinical Social Work/Therapist](https://photos.psychologytoday.com/36a7b12a-9d0d-43b5-b814-a8274fb56c42/3/320x400.jpeg)
Combs Psychotherapy L.L.C.
Clinical Social Work/Therapist, MSW, LCSW
Verified Verified
Waterloo, IA 50703 (Online Only)
Combs Psychotherapy is excited to assist you with your mental health and substance abuse treatment needs. You will have a warm, nonjudgmental, empathetic, and supportive experience us. Our primary focus is to insure that though things may be difficult walking this road of life, you don't have to walk it alone. We have experience treating trauma, depression, anxiety, PTSD, mental illness, substance abuse, co-occurring disorders, loneliness, grief, self worth, LGBTQ+ issues, gender identity adjustment, sexual issues, and many other conditions. Congratulations on making this brave step. Our ideal client is everyone ready for change.
Combs Psychotherapy is excited to assist you with your mental health and substance abuse treatment needs. You will have a warm, nonjudgmental, empathetic, and supportive experience us. Our primary focus is to insure that though things may be difficult walking this road of life, you don't have to walk it alone. We have experience treating trauma, depression, anxiety, PTSD, mental illness, substance abuse, co-occurring disorders, loneliness, grief, self worth, LGBTQ+ issues, gender identity adjustment, sexual issues, and many other conditions. Congratulations on making this brave step. Our ideal client is everyone ready for change.
See more therapy options for Des Moines
Play Therapy
Who is play therapy for?
Play therapy is generally targeted to children between the ages of 3 and 11 who have social, emotional, or behavioral difficulties. Play therapy has also been found helpful for children who have experienced physical or emotional abuse or witnessed atrocities. Play therapy is also often recommended for children who are undergoing major medical procedures or who are suffering from chronic illness; many children’s hospitals are equipped to offer play therapy on-site. Play therapy is also sometimes used for adults; creative writing, music, and art are expressive forms that can all be adapted for therapeutic purposes.
Why do people need play therapy?
Children often do not have the language skills or words to know or to express what is troubling them. Yet they often spontaneously draw or use playthings to depict scenarios that reflect problems in their everyday life. Play therapy provides children with an array of objects and play situations to act out their feelings or experiences so that therapists can get a clear picture of what children might be struggling with and help them find solutions. In addition, play therapists are skilled at helping children understand their inner experience and find words for them, necessary steps toward helping children learn to control their own behavior and come up with solutions to problems they encounter.
What happens in play therapy?
A child enters a comfortable playroom where they are free to choose the objects they want to play with. The play therapist will typically observe how they play with the toys—whether a sandbox, puppets, dolls and action figures, trucks, costumes, drawing and painting materials, or more—because such play provides clues to a child’s family and social relationships, difficulties they are encountering in the world, and what going on inside themselves. Sometimes the therapist may ask the child to use the play objects to tell a story about their family. Using the same instruments of play, therapists can help children discover more advantageous ways of thinking and behaving.
What kinds of problems do play therapists treat?
Play therapy can help children who display destructive or self-destructive impulses; children who seem angry, sad, or fearful; children who experience frequent social, emotional, family, or school difficulty. Play therapy is often of value to children who have experienced a loss or distressing family experience, who are regularly exposed to family conflict, or who have been physically or emotionally abused. Play therapy can help children who are perpetrators of bullying as well as those who are targets of bullying. It helps children learn to identify their feelings, to express them in constructive ways, and to regulate them so they can get on with the business of development.
How long does play therapy last?
Play therapy sessions may last for 30 to 45 minutes, and they usually occur weekly for about 20 sessions. Each session is tailored to the individual child and the kinds of problems they are struggling with. Play that is highly repetitive often indicates a problem requiring further exploration. Therapists typically measure progress through session-to-session changes in play behavior.