Our 2nd SM meet up 💛

A huge thank you to Sussex Sunshine Play Therapy for joining us at yesterday’s meet‑up. 

Meeting them and hearing about there services was a reminder of just how powerful play‑based therapeutic support can be for children who struggle with communication, anxiety or emotional regulation.

It also highlighted something important.

Right now, SPOA can only refer families to talking‑based therapies, which are often inaccessible or inappropriate for children with selective mutism or high levels of communication anxiety. It’s a real shame that services like Sussex Sunshine Play Therapy — which offer gentle, child‑led, non‑verbal therapeutic approaches — aren’t commissioned under the same early‑intervention pathway as other support.

Families deserve access to a wider range of therapeutic options, especially those that meet children where they are, not where the system expects them to be.

You can learn more about their work here:

https://www.sussexsunshineplaytherapy.co.uk/

It was so lovely to meet more families and I’m currently looking into animal based therapy for our next meet up. 

Jo 💛