Pages & Play: The Power of Bibliotherapy and Play Therapy on Young Minds – Details, episodes & analysis

In this first podcast episode, we introduce bibliotherapy and child-centred play therapy, explaining how stories and play support children’s emotional, psychological, and social development. 

We discuss the neuroscience and research behind how play and storytelling build neural pathways, executive function, language, emotional literacy, and agency. We also share our personal career journeys into the fields, suggest relevant book recommendations, and preview our next episode on emotional literacy.

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome and Overview

00:51 What Is Bibliotherapy

01:26 4 Bibliotherapy Pillars

02:39 Developmental vs Clinical Use

03:44 How Stories Help Children

05:05 Play Therapy Basics

06:18 Child-Centred Approach

08:58 Play Therapy Benefits

10:59 Trauma and Neurodiversity

11:36 Combining Story and Play Therapy

14:46 Why It Matters Today

15:27 The Science of Play and Story on Childhood Development

19:17 The Importance of Language 

23:08 Safety and Environment

23:42 Making Time to Play

25:17 Our Personal Journeys

25:44 Freya's Path to Play Therapy

30:27 Bijal's Path to Bibliotherapy

35:15 At Home Play Prompts

38:45 At Home Reading Prompts

39:47 Relevant Book Recommendations

44:55 Closing Remarks and Next Episode Preview

Support the show

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Find out more at Book Therapy or Play Refuge

Or email us at bijal@booktherapy.io or freya@playrefuge.co.uk

Hi! It's Bijal from Book Therapy and Freya from Play Refuge, and we are SO excited to introduce our new six-part podcast series, Pages and Play: The Power of Bibliotherapy and Play Therapy on Nurturing Young Minds which brings together bibliotherapy and play therapy to explore how books and play can shape young minds.

Each episode blends science, stories, book recommendations, and practical play tips to support adults and children. The series tackles key topics including building emotional literacy, embracing diversity, reducing anxiety, navigating grief, and raising teens, offering real-world strategies for parents, educators, and anyone curious.

The series launches on Friday 27th March and we will be publishing an episode every Friday over the course of six weeks. So please do subscribe to it wherever you listen to podcasts so you don't miss an episode!

Look forward to having you on board :)

Freya and Bijal x

Support the show

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Find out more at Book Therapy or Play Refuge

Or email us at bijal@booktherapy.io or freya@playrefuge.co.uk