Many Philly kids carry trauma and stress. One simple tool can help.

Each day in my office, children enact scenes of violence and death.

I’m a play therapist who specializes in trauma, and the children who come see me — particularly those directly and indirectly impacted by the epidemic of gun violence — arrange intricate battle scenes using green plastic army men, role-play violent encounters with cloth puppets, and pretend they are doctors informing a teddy bear that a loved one has been murdered.

This can be heartbreaking for me to watch. But I also know it’s exactly what these children need to do to process what has happened to them.

Practiced by licensed mental health professionals for decades, play therapy creates a space for children to give voice to their experiences through the language of childhood: play. Research shows play therapy works, but the city can’t always provide it.

Research shows play therapy works, but the city can’t always provide it.

The surgeon general has declared the rising mental health challenges of young people to be a crisis, but there are not enough mental health providers who are trained to meet the needs of children and adolescents. There’s especially a demand for interventions such as play therapy.

Philadelphia’s children can’t afford to wait.

So far this year, there have been more than 900 nonfatal and 200 fatal shootings in the city. Summers are a particularly violent time.

Although the pace of shootings in 2023 seems to have fallen over the last two years, the proportion of victims who are children has increased. That means more of our city’s children are being shot and shot at, and living with the aftereffects of that trauma.

» READ MORE: Halfway through 2023, shootings are down and more killings are solved. But trauma persists.

Eleven percent of people shot this year in Philadelphia were under the age of 18. And for every person shot — no matter their age — there is a web of people impacted by that experience, many of whom are kids. Sometimes, they’re witnesses. Other times, they’re friends or relatives; the person shot could be their neighbor, uncle, or mom. Many are merely young residents of a city mired in a crisis of violence.

For adults, continued reports of gun violence can elicit fear, anger, or grief. That impact is magnified for children, who are still developing the framework to process major emotional stressors. When a child witnesses someone they love get shot, they have little idea how to talk about and deal with their feelings. They can become overwhelmed by fear, and see the world as an inherently violent place. Nothing will feel safe.

Very often, my clients’ play recalls the dynamics of neighborhood tragedies they’ve witnessed. This is not a new situation for children facing traumatic events.

During the Holocaust, for instance, children who were sent to concentration camps would reenact the terror around them, be that play acting as Gestapo or pretending to bury one another in makeshift mass graves.

This play has a purpose. By acting out the unspeakable horrors they witnessed, children attempt to make sense of the inconceivable.

When adults experience trauma, they have options to deal with it — they can, for instance, talk about their lingering fears and anxieties about their unsafe world, and take in the advice and strategies offered by a mental health professional.

Children don’t always have that ability. Play therapy provides a safe environment in which a child can use familiar tools like puppets, dollhouses, and figurines to communicate their inner worlds and thoughts, including what scares or overwhelms them.

Among children exposed to violence and other potential traumas, studies have shown that play therapy can relieve PTSD symptoms and decrease problem behaviors, such as getting into fights at school.

However, as I noted, too few Philly kids have access to this important intervention.

Even without access to therapy, there is a lot adults can do to support children. Adults can talk and listen to kids, do everything they can to make the home environment feel safe, and offer kids’ books that address trauma such as shootings.

Yet one of the most important — and often overlooked — ways that adults can support children in the aftermath of violence is to encourage and allow them to play, either alone or together.

There are so many benefits to play for kids. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that parents participate in “special playtime” — five to 10 minutes with one parent and one child participating in child-led play activities. No expensive toys are required, just imagination.

Special time could involve playing a child’s favorite game, following their lead in pretend play, or coloring with crayons. The child’s choice of activity is less important than the fact that they are in control of the choice and that a trusted caregiver is playing alongside them.

The practice can provide children with an outlet for difficult emotions, and a sense of connection to their primary caregiver, which can be especially important in uncertain times.

Routines can help children feel safer and in greater control of their environments, particularly as the summer schedule changes and the school year begins. When the outside world introduces chaos and violence into children’s immediate surroundings, regularly scheduling special playtime can increase the child’s feelings of safety and security.

Some children may require the involvement of a professional, but all children can benefit from time spent playing at home.

Philadelphia’s gun violence problem requires complex, multifaceted solutions. We may not have the tools to make the world safer for our children, but there is something we can do: We can play.

Katharine Wenocur is a licensed clinical social worker and registered play therapist supervisor who coordinates the child trauma and play therapy concentration within Thomas Jefferson University’s Community and Trauma Counseling Program.