Which toys should and should not be in the Toy Therapy Room?

The therapy room with a toy is an amazing therapeutic space that requires attention and inspiration from the psychologist!

What toys should be collected:
1. Toys that are pleasant to the touch. This is a symbolic reference to the soft hands of a mother, or, even more deeply, to the first warm diaper after the soothing and stabilizing trauma of birth. A soft toy is our first coping strategy at an unconscious stage of life;
2. Toys – characters. Each character is an archetype of a certain form of behavior. The child directly activates associations about the character and, as a result, mentions of his form of behavior.
3. Toys are symbols of animals. Each animal is the carrier of the survival system, the primary natural force, which has encouraged us to survive and endure all troubles for many thousands of centuries. Therefore, strong animals are carriers of the survival force of nature itself, which is very useful to implement in circumstances of traumatic stress.
4. Amazing toys. Such toys challenge children’s imagination. Interesting and, at first glance, unclear, they form the child’s resistance to the traumatic conditions of war, prompting the work of fantasy search mechanisms.
5. Toys are different in functionality: sitting and looking at you; those who are, as it were, relaxed – rest; those who are ready to hug you and others. The choice of such a toy is also a kind of request for contact by the child. Therefore, it is always worth asking why the child chose such a toy.

Who should not be taken to the toy room:

1. Characters, people, puppets. They work as a transfer to one’s own “I”. And in a war, it can be traumatized in a child.
2. Very destroyed toys. This is a form of separate toy therapy. When the psychologist does not know the client well and is not able to foresee his possible condition, it is better not to offer destroyed or injured toys.
3. Toys that require constant monitoring and care. The child is already tired of the traumatic conditions of life in the war. The toy should perform the function of support, and not need constant maintenance. So the child will spend such important internal forces for recovery.
4. Mechanized toys with batteries. They can fail at the most important moment and need to be serviced. When the toy stops at the most important time, it seems to die, and this can lead to severe secondary traumatization of the child. In order to prevent such situations, such toys should not be used in the therapy room.
5. Toys with a strong cultural or religious message. They can provoke xenophobic or traumatic reactions. Therefore, you should choose generally accepted toys without pronounced stigmatization in the images.
A toy is an excellent method of restoring children after tragic events, but, like everything else, you should know the rules and conditions for the most effective use!

@Victoria Nazarevich 2022 Therapeutic toy room organization