Despite knowing the effectiveness of play therapy for families navigating divorce, many play therapists take pause at the various legal and ethical nuances that arise when working with divorced families. One ethical gray area that play therapists particularly struggle with is whether or not to acquire consent from both parents when consent is only required from one parent. As play therapists who ascribe to the value of working alongside the client’s whole family system, how do we proceed when only one parent requests therapy for their child and only their consent is required?

Each one of us is unique. We are not one-dimensional beings; rather, we are multifaceted. We each have different tendencies, likes, interests, dreams, and strengths. From our personalities and talents to our physical appearance and biological makeup, no one of us is exactly alike to another person. Looking at our children, we know this to be incredibly true. No child is the same as another, especially when it comes to what makes them feel whole and alive. This is as true for children as it is for adults as we constantly journey towards a sense of health, wholeness, and purpose.

Friendship is an important part of every child’s life. The community of peers they develop in their youth shapes both their identity and their perception of the world. Their early relationships serve as a microcosm, or a small-scale representation, of the world they expect to grow into. Because of this, it matters greatly that children have the opportunity to cultivate diverse friendships. 

As a parent, there is no shortage of reminders that you could be doing it better. All it takes is opening Facebook and Instagram to see another video of how to feed your child, how to talk to your child, or how to discipline your child. In the age of information overload, many of us feel overwhelmed by the increasing volume of voices from every direction telling us how we can better raise our kids.