The teenage years are full of rapid change. Emotions feel bigger, friendships become more complicated, and a growing need for independence often clashes with the need for support. Parents are often left wondering how to best help their preteens and teens as they navigate it all.
While play therapy is most commonly associated with younger children, it can also be a powerful tool for supporting older kids, especially those who may not feel ready to open up in traditional talk therapy. For preteens and early adolescents in particular, a play-based approach creates an emotionally safe entry point for therapy and helps them begin to express what’s going on inside.
Why Preteens Still Need Play
At ages 10 to 13, many children still fall into a developmental window where imaginative thinking, creativity, and sensory play remain deeply important. While they may be growing out of toys and cartoons, their emotional regulation and self-expression skills are still maturing.
Preteens may struggle to find the words to describe what they’re feeling. They may push adults away, act out at school, or retreat into technology. This stage often comes with:
- Heightened sensitivity to peer rejection or embarrassment
- Increased need for privacy or alone time
- Emotional outbursts that feel unpredictable or extreme
- Internal conflict between wanting independence and still needing support
- New awareness of adult issues like body image, friendships, and identity
These emotional shifts can be confusing and overwhelming, even for kids with strong support systems. Many simply don’t know how to talk about what they’re feeling.
That’s where play-based therapy comes in.
What Does Play-Based Therapy Look Like for Preteens and Teens?
Play therapy for this age group doesn’t look like a room full of toys. Instead, it uses creative, experiential activities that meet them where they are developmentally. That may include:
- Drawing, painting, or working with clay
- Sand tray therapy
- Games that build trust and communication
- Digital tools, such as online therapy platforms with interactive features
- Storytelling, metaphors, or role-play
- Journaling or creative writing
- Movement-based techniques or sensory items
These tools help therapists access emotional content in indirect ways, reducing pressure on the child to “perform” or explain themselves with perfect insight. The focus isn’t on the activity itself, it’s on what the activity reveals and how it helps the child connect with and process their emotions.
How It Supports Mental Health
Play-based therapy allows kids to explore the full range of emotions, grief, anger, shame, fear, sadness, without needing to verbalize them right away. This is especially helpful for kids experiencing:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Social struggles
- School refusal
- Family changes such as divorce or remarriage
- Grief and loss
- Perfectionism or burnout
- Emotional dysregulation or low frustration tolerance
By engaging in creative expression, kids start to feel seen and understood. As the therapeutic relationship grows, they begin to internalize new coping tools and develop stronger emotional insight.
Why Some Teens Prefer This Approach
Even teens who are older than the typical age for play therapy may benefit from aspects of a creative or experiential approach. Teens often feel resistant to traditional therapy because they fear being judged, misunderstood, or expected to immediately open up.
When a therapist invites them to draw, write, or use metaphor rather than pressure them into direct dialogue, it can take the edge off. It builds rapport in a way that feels less invasive. Some teens are more comfortable using characters, symbols, or stories to express their own experiences.
It’s not about reverting to childhood, it’s about honoring the natural, creative ways teens process the world.
Meeting Teens Where They Are: The Virtual Advantage
At Amy Brown Counseling, we specialize in working with kids ages 7 and up through virtual therapy, including preteens and teens throughout Missouri and Texas. All of our therapists are trained to use a developmentally sensitive, creative approach, even in a virtual setting.
We use a secure platform called Teleo, developed specifically for online play therapy. This tool allows therapists and clients to interact together on the same screen with access to virtual games, art activities, sand trays, and more. It brings play-based therapy into the digital world in a way that keeps kids engaged and supported.
For older teens, we combine elements of talk therapy and expressive tools depending on their age, personality, and preferences.
Benefits of Virtual Play-Based Therapy for Tweens and Teens
- Comfortable environment – kids can stay in their room or familiar space
- Flexible scheduling – fits with after-school routines and co-parenting arrangements
- More consistent attendance – easier to access care from anywhere
- Less intimidating – creative play activities reduce pressure to “talk about feelings”
- Developmentally aligned – bridges the gap between childhood and adolescence
Whether a child feels nervous to start therapy or just isn’t sure what they need, this approach helps them ease in at their own pace.
How Parents Stay Involved
Parents remain an essential part of the therapy process. We meet with parents before a child’s first session to understand concerns, gather background information, and discuss goals. We also offer regular parent updates and check-ins to share progress, offer support, and coordinate strategies that work both in and out of session.
For younger children, we do ask that a parent be home during therapy sessions in case the therapist needs to check in or troubleshoot any technical issues. Older teens are generally able to attend sessions independently from a private place on their device.
We understand that emotional growth doesn’t happen in isolation—it happens in relationships. That’s why we work closely with caregivers to build bridges between home and therapy.
Signs Your Child Might Benefit from Play-Based Therapy
It may be time to explore therapy if your tween or teen:
- Struggles to talk about emotions or keeps everything bottled up
- Seems overwhelmed by school or social stress
- Shows sudden changes in mood, sleep, or appetite
- Becomes more withdrawn, angry, or irritable
- Refuses to go to school or avoids social situations
- Has experienced a recent loss, trauma, or family disruption
- Appears to have low self-esteem or self-worth
- Is asking for help but doesn’t know where to start
Even if the signs are subtle, you don’t have to wait for things to escalate. Therapy can be helpful at any stage, before, during, or after a crisis.
Final Thoughts
Creative, developmentally sensitive therapy isn’t just for little kids. Preteens and teens are still developing emotional regulation, insight, and identity. They often benefit most when therapy doesn’t feel like a lecture or an interrogation, but like a space to breathe, create, and begin opening up on their own terms.
At Amy Brown Counseling, we’re here to support your child’s emotional health with the same care and compassion we’d want for our own families.
Fill out our client inquiry form to get started today.
