For Parents and Caregivers
As parents and caregivers, you are seen as essential partners in the therapeutic process. The relationship between a child and their caregiver forms the foundation for healing, growth, and regulation. When parents feel supported and informed, children feel safer to explore, express, and change.
The Parent Intake Session
Therapy begins with a Parent Intake Session, a 90-minute meeting for parents or caregivers (without the child present). This is a chance to share your child’s story, developmental history, current challenges, and goals for therapy. Together, we identify your child’s strengths, areas of support, and the most suitable therapeutic approach.
This session also provides time for parents to ask questions and gain a clear understanding of how play therapy and counselling work.
The Therapy Process
Children attend weekly 45-minute sessions, held at the same time each week. Consistency and predictability are important for safety and progress.
After the first 5 individual therapy sessions, caregivers and parents are invited for a Review Meeting to discuss progress, themes emerging in therapy, and strategies to support growth at home. After this, a meeting will be requested after every 10 therapy sessions.
This collaboration ensures that insights and changes from the therapy room carry over into family life.
Play therapy is a gradual process. Children move at their own pace, sometimes revisiting earlier stages as trust deepens. Change occurs through safety, repetition, and connection.
Your Role as a Parent
Your role is central to your child’s healing. While the playroom belongs to the child, parents create the safety around it. You can support therapy by:
Maintaining a calm, predictable routine on therapy days
Avoiding detailed questions about the session (“What did you play today?”) to protect your child’s privacy
Noting any changes in your child’s emotions or behaviour between sessions
Using reflective listening and empathy to help your child feel understood
Attending parent meetings to reflect, share insights, and strengthen connection
Confidentiality and Trust
All sessions are confidential. Information is only shared with parents in a way that protects the child’s sense of safety and privacy. Written consent is always sought before sharing information with schools, GPs, or other professionals involved in your child’s care.
The Four Stages of Play Therapy
While each child’s process is unique, most move through four general stages:
Establishing Trust
This period is the warm-up stage. A child is getting familiar with the routine and environment of therapy. Here we are establishing the therapeutic relationship and sense of security. We can see significant initial growth.
Exploration & Expression Stage
During this stage, children begin to face the challenges that brought them to therapy. As they do this, it’s completely normal for them to “test for protection”—checking whether their caregivers and the therapeutic relationship are safe, steady, and able to hold their bigger emotions. This is not misbehaviour; it’s the child making sure the world around them can support the deeper work they’re starting to do.
Sometimes parents worry that therapy isn’t working when things momentarily feel harder. In reality, this is often a sign that the therapeutic process is working. As children begin to rewire neural pathways and challenge old patterns, a temporary regression can occur. You may notice:
Re-emergence of old behaviours
Bigger outbursts or emotional sensitivity
Shutdowns or withdrawal
Fatigue or a lower tolerance for everyday challenges
This stage can be tiring for the child’s nervous system. Keeping home routines predictable, offering extra co-regulation, and providing steady emotional support will help them move through it safely.
In the playroom, children use symbolic play to express feelings, explore experiences, test boundaries, and make sense of their inner world. This exploration is an essential part of their healing and growth.
Empowerment & Closure Stage
As children move into this stage, you’ll start to see the benefits of their therapeutic work emerging in gentle, steady ways. Their play often becomes more organised, confident, and purposeful. They begin to use new coping skills, show greater emotional awareness, and demonstrate resilience in situations that previously felt overwhelming.
Children at this point are integrating what they’ve learned—both in the playroom and through your support at home. You may notice:
More flexible problem-solving
Increased confidence and independence
Stronger emotional regulation
A clearer ability to express needs, feelings, and boundaries
Fewer outbursts or a quicker return to calm
This is a time where children experience a sense of empowerment: “I can do hard things, and I am safe.”
As we move toward ending therapy, the focus gradually shifts to helping the child prepare for closure. This is done slowly, respectfully, and at the child’s pace. Together, we reflect on their growth, celebrate their strengths, and ensure they feel supported as they transition out of therapy.
Parents play an important role here—maintaining consistent routines, offering co-regulation, and acknowledging the child’s efforts helps consolidate the gains they’ve made. The goal of this stage is for the child to feel equipped, confident, and connected as they step forward with their new skills.
Separation & Consolidation Stage
The final stage of play therapy is centred around preparing the child to step confidently into life without the ongoing support of the therapist. This stage is not a sudden goodbye—it is a gentle, thoughtful process that allows the child to consolidate their skills, celebrate their progress, and strengthen their sense of self.
By this point, children have developed new emotional, relational, and behavioural capacities. The goal now is to help them practise these skills independently so they can continue to thrive beyond the therapy room. You may notice:
Greater resilience and flexibility in daily challenges
A clearer ability to communicate needs and feelings
Increased problem-solving and self-soothing skills
A strong sense of mastery and confidence
Children often revisit themes or play patterns during this stage—not as a regression, but as a way of reinforcing what they’ve learned. They may also express their feelings about ending therapy through their play, giving them a safe way to process the transition.
Children may move back and forth between these stages as their sense of safety and self-awareness evolve.
Supporting the Whole Family
At Seabird, therapy extends beyond the playroom. Parents and caregivers are supported to reflect on their own experiences, understand family patterns, and strengthen the co-regulation that underpins emotional safety. This collaborative approach helps the entire family system move toward balance, connection, and wellbeing.
Fees
All services at Seabird are billed at a standard rate of $193.99 per hour for both private clients and NDIS participants. Maintaining one consistent fee across funding types reflects current industry standards, supports equity, and aligns with the NDIS Other Professionals line item for Masters-level therapeutic practitioners.
Individual Play Therapy sessions run for 45 minutes and are billed as a 1-hour appointment.
This structure allows time for essential clinical tasks, including room reset, documentation, and therapeutic note-taking — ensuring high-quality, ethical, consistent care.
Parent Intake Meetings and Parent Review Meetings are billed at the same hourly rate of $193.99. These meetings typically run for 60–90 minutes, depending on family needs and the depth of information discussed.
This hourly fee applies to all services offered at Seabird, including Play Therapy, Learn to Play, Filial Therapy, Parenting Support, Counselling, and Sandtray Therapy.
If you are experiencing financial hardship or have concerns about affordability, please feel welcome to reach out. We understand that therapy is an important investment and are open to discussing your circumstances where appropriate.
