Most of the kids I see couldn't tell you what's wrong, and that's normal. Play therapy exists because play is a child's first language, the way they process what they don't have words for yet. I'm Alexis Cayne, a Marriage and Family Therapy intern at Northwest Relationships, and every session I run is reviewed by Brittany Thomas, LMFT, an AAMFT Approved Supervisor with years of training in exactly this kind of work.

My caseload centers on children and families: family dynamics and attachment, parenting support, grief, and neurodiversity. I'm working toward the Registered Play Therapist credential, which adds specialized training on top of my MFT education. And while children are my focus, they aren't the whole picture. I see adults, couples, and individuals too, often parents doing their own work alongside a child's, or a couple whose parenting strain has started crowding out the partnership underneath it.

For parents specifically, sessions tend to blend individual time with your child and family sessions where we work on the dynamics at home together, not just what happens in the fifty minutes we're in the room.

Families in Tacoma or anywhere in Washington state come to me when a child is anxious, grieving, moving through a family transition, or navigating a neurodivergent diagnosis, especially a child who struggles to talk about feelings directly. If that's your kid, this is what I do all day.

The intake form is short, and if you're wondering what a play session actually looks like for a child your kid's age, ask me first and I'll walk you through it. Adults and couples are welcome on their own as well, with or without a child in the picture.