The impact of Theraplay in Childhood Problems

The continuous increase in the prevalence of developmental disabilities reminds families and society an important need for appropriate interventions for people with developmental disabilities. In addition, some research has shown that due to a disability, child's mood may influence the development of attachment. One of the treatments for attachment problems is theraplay. Theraplay is a short-term therapeutic approach that uses elements of play therapy to help children build healthier attachment relationships with others. The main purpose of this article is to review the studies that have examined the effectiveness of theraplay in childhood problems.

This research is a review study and its information has been collected by studying articles, books and treatises related to this topic.

53 out of 56 studies that has been examined reported positive results and 3 of them did not report positive results.

According to the results of the researches, it seems that theraplay is effective in treating childhood problems, especially parent-child relationship problems, adoption and attachment problems and autism spectrum disorders. However, there is a gap in studies that have examined the effectiveness of this treatment in Iran. Therefore, it is suggested to study the effectiveness of theraplay in different populations thus its results can be used to help children with disabilities.