A structured, play-based therapy that builds attachment, trust, and joy between children and caregivers, creating the experiences of connection that help children feel safe, seen, and worthy of love.
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At Strengthening Families, our clinicians are Theraplay practitioners bringing specialized training and genuine warmth to our work with children and families. Sessions are held in person at Strengthening Families in Fishers, Indiana—because Theraplay is a relationship-based approach that works best when everyone is in the room together.
Children who have experienced early trauma, disrupted attachment, or adverse childhood experiences often struggle to feel safe in relationships—even with the caregivers who love them most. They may push away comfort, act out, withdraw, or seem unable to connect in the ways a caregiver longs for. Theraplay was developed specifically to address this, working not through words alone but through the healing power of guided, joyful, physical interaction between a child and their caregiver.
Theraplay is a structured, play-based therapy that has been recognized by the Association of Play Therapy as one of the seminal psychotherapies for children. Developed over 50 years ago and practiced around the world, it uses practitioner-guided activities to create playful, caring interactions that foster attunement, trust, and secure attachment. Sessions focus on four essential qualities found in healthy parent-child relationships: Structure, which creates safety and predictability; Nurture, which calms and soothes; Engagement, which helps a child feel seen, heard, and accepted; and Challenge, which builds confidence and a sense of competence. Together these dimensions replicate the kind of early relational experiences that lead to secure attachment—experiences that many children from hard places never had the opportunity to have.
At Strengthening Families, Theraplay is used alongside TBRI—Trust-Based Relational Intervention—which provides the overarching framework for understanding why a child behaves as they do and what they need to feel safe enough to change. Where TBRI offers the clinical map, Theraplay brings it to life in the session itself, creating experiences of attunement, nurture, and delight that help rewire a child's expectations of what relationships feel like. Together, these approaches form a powerful foundation for families working to build secure, trusting bonds after early harm. Learn more about TBRI here.
Theraplay is an approach many families haven't encountered before, and it often raises good questions. These answers cover what we hear most from caregivers who are just getting started. If yours isn't here, please don't hesitate to reach out.
Theraplay sessions are active, relational, and guided by the therapist. They look quite different from traditional talk therapy. The therapist leads structured play activities designed around the four Theraplay dimensions of Structure, Nurture, Engagement, and Challenge, with the goal of creating genuine moments of connection and joy between a child and their caregiver. Caregivers are welcome in the room with their child, though sessions typically involve just one caregiver at a time so the child doesn't feel overwhelmed by too many adults in the space. The typical cadence is three Theraplay sessions with the child followed by one parent session. Parent sessions are a dedicated time to reflect on what caregivers have been noticing — in their child and in themselves. What changes are you seeing since beginning therapy? How are you applying attunement and connection at home? What barriers are getting in the way of the parent-child relationship, and what needs is your child expressing? Parent sessions also address caregiver self-care and emotional regulation, because a caregiver's own capacity to stay regulated directly shapes their child's ability to feel safe.
TBRI and Theraplay are distinct but deeply complementary approaches that are frequently used together at Strengthening Families. TBRI provides the clinical framework—the way of understanding why a child behaves as they do and what they need to feel safe enough to change. Theraplay puts that understanding into practice through structured, therapist-guided play activities that build attunement, trust, and joy between a child and their caregiver. In sessions, a caregiver participates directly alongside their child rather than observing from the sidelines, which means the relationship itself becomes the vehicle for healing.
Many therapeutic approaches—even good ones—were not designed with the specific needs of children from hard places in mind. They may inadvertently rely on a child's capacity for felt safety, trust, and verbal communication that simply isn't there yet. Theraplay doesn't ask a child to talk about their experiences or understand their own behavior—it works at a relational and neurological level, building safety and connection through play before expecting anything else. For many families, it is the first approach that has made sense of their child's behaviors and offered a path forward that feels both hopeful and doable.
No, Theraplay is not offered virtually at Strengthening Families, and this is intentional. Because Theraplay is an attachment-based modality that works through physical presence, guided interaction, and the lived experience of connection between a child and caregiver, it is simply not as effective when delivered remotely. The relational and sensory dimensions of the approach require everyone to be in the room together. All Theraplay sessions are held in person at the Strengthening Families office in Fishers, Indiana.
