My family and I have been clients of Playful Awareness LLC since April 2011.  Our daughter who is 7 was the first of our family to become a client.  When my husband and I started looking for a Therapist for her we were very leery of anyone that used play therapy as an approach do to the fact we had taken her to a therapist a couple of years before that used play therapy and had no improvement after several months of weekly sessions we had little faith that it worked. 

         In April we were at our wits end and didn't know where to turn or just how to help our daughter so we decided to give it another chance and we are glad that we did.  Through play our daughter for the first time was given a voice and the tools to trust and allow someone in who could help her work through everything that she has been through and all the confusing feelings and emotions that went with it. 

          By using creative play Sara(Founder/Director of Playful Awareness LLC) allowed our daughter to express her deepest worries, fears, and frustrations.  In July 2011 she was hospitalized for self harming and the only way she was willing to share with Sara why she had harmed herself was through play therapy techniques.  Sara has also incorporated DBT techniques to help her stay in control while she is at school or when she feels herself starting to head into a meltdown.  We firmly believe that if we hadn't given these therapy approaches a chance our daughter would still be "lost" and wouldn't be on the road to recovery.

          In May of 2011 I became a client of Playful Awareness LLC.  After being diagnosed with Bipolar disorder many years ago and never feeling like I fit that diagnosis Sara diagnosed me with Borderline Personality Disorder and for the first time I felt like I fit.  I had answers to why I am the way I am.  I also have ADHD and really have a difficult time staying focused.  Play Therapy has given me the opportunity to learn new skills but in a creative and playful way. 

         In the past when I have tried traditional therapy it was to structured and rigid I got bored and frustrated very quickly and learned how to say what my therapist wanted me to say and do what they wanted me to do just to be done with it.  When you combine the flexibility and creativeness of Play Therapy with the structure of traditional DBT skills therapy it's a perfect match for someone like me.  It would be my hope that as we look forward to the future and how us as clients can best be served that we realize that you can still have the rigid rules and structure that people with Borderline Personality Disorder require but still be creative and flexible with how those skills are presented and practiced.