The mission of The Theraplay Institute is to build strong families and emotionally healthy children and adults through Theraplay training, treatment, advocacy, and research. The Theraplay Institute is an internationally and nationally renowned training and treatment organization, with our headquarters in Evanston.
The Theraplay Institute has been an innovator and an educator in the field of children’s mental health for more than 40 years. Our clinical model, Theraplay®, has been continually updated during this time to reflect scientific advances in neurological, developmental and social-emotional challenges that affect children and their families.
Theraplay Institute staff clinicians are leading experts in the fields of attachment, parent-child relationships and trauma-informed practice. We practice and teach others how to provide best practice therapy for problems resulting from international adoption, trauma/abuse, developmental disorders, ADD/ADHD, Reactive Attachment Disorder, medical trauma, and others. We also help families with otherwise asymptomatic children who exhibit angry, disruptive, defiant behavior or shy, withdrawn or clingy behavior.
Too often, families come to The Theraplay Institute in crisis, after all other treatment methods have been exhausted. Theraplay is an effective treatment for children of all ages, from infancy through adolescence, but it is most frequently practiced with children from eighteen months to twelve years. Due to its focus on forming attachments and improving relationships, Theraplay has been used successfully for many years with foster and adoptive families.
