Play Therapy in Antalya for International Childrenchildren speak in play — we listen
Our clinical psychologists listen in the language children use best — play, in English, Turkish or both — helping children of expat and bilingual families feel at home in their own feelings. In a dedicated playroom in Şirinyalı, 7 days a week.
Write or call to arrange a first parent meeting — we usually reply within 24 hours, in English.
4.9
Google rating
183 reviews
2,000+
sessions of experience
adults · couples · children
Board
matching by case board
not an algorithm — a clinical board
BPS
Founder Berk Mete — GMBPsS
Birkbeck, Univ. of London · #763717
Which area do you need?
BPS
Berk Mete — Graduate Member
GMBPsS #763717
Experience
2,000+ sessions
Adults · couples · children
Rating
4.9 on Google
183+ reviews
Response
Within 24 hours
First appointment
Why Play, Not Talk?
Ask a seven-year-old how the move to Turkey has been for them and you will get a shrug. Watch that same child in a playroom for forty minutes and the story pours out — an aeroplane that keeps flying away, a lion cub looking for its den, a sand world where the old house and the new house stand side by side. Children do not lack feelings; they lack the adult machinery for narrating them. Play is their native language.
A trained clinical psychologist does far more than watch. In the non-directive tradition, the therapist provides safety, warmth and carefully calibrated reflection while the child leads — trusting the child's own capacity to work through inner conflict symbolically. In CBT-based play, the therapist designs games, stories and role-plays that target a specific difficulty: a bravery game for a fear, a puppet rehearsal for a social worry. At our practice both approaches are used, chosen and blended according to the child's age and needs — a decision taken by our clinical team, not by default.
For international families there is one more advantage that is easy to underestimate: the child never needs an interpreter. Whether your child dreams in English, Turkish, or switches mid-sentence, the therapist follows.
What Play Therapy Helps With
Relocation & Adjustment
New country, new school, new language. Play gives children a safe stage to work through what the move took away and what it brought.
Anxiety & Fears
Separation anxiety, social worries, specific fears — addressed through graded, playful exposure and symbolic processing.
Anger & Behaviour
Tantrums, aggression and defiance are usually the loudest available signal. Play therapy finds what the behaviour is trying to say.
Family Transitions
Divorce, a new sibling, bereavement, blended families — the big changes children rarely have words for.
After Distressing Events
Accidents, hospital stays, frightening experiences — processed gently, at the child's own pace, through symbolic play.
School & Social Difficulties
School refusal, friendship struggles, selective mutism and confidence — often intensified for children in international or bilingual schools.
Parents Are Part of the Team
Play therapy works best when the playroom and the living room pull in the same direction. Alongside your child's sessions we schedule separate parent meetings — practical conversations without judgement, where you get concrete tools: how to respond to a meltdown, how to talk about the move, how to handle bedtime without a battle. Where useful, we teach filial-style "special play time" techniques you can run at home each week to strengthen the bond directly.
If the difficulty turns out to sit partly in the wider family system — a common finding after international moves — we may suggest adding family therapy. Older children and teenagers are seen within our child and adolescent therapy service, and where attention or focus questions arise we offer the objective MOXO attention test.
Is Play Therapy Right for My Child?
Play therapy suits children aged roughly 4 to 12 who are showing worry, anger, withdrawal or difficulty adjusting after a change — especially a move between countries — and who cannot yet put those feelings into words. Sessions last 30-45 minutes, usually weekly, with parallel parent guidance throughout. Tell us your child's age and what you have noticed, and we will suggest the right starting point and arrange a first parent meeting, in English.
Play Therapy, Answered
What exactly is play therapy?
Play therapy is an evidence-based form of psychotherapy for children, built on a simple observation: children do not process feelings by talking about them the way adults do — they process them through play. In a specially equipped room with sand tray, puppets, art materials and figures, a trained clinical psychologist reads the symbolic content of the child's play and responds therapeutically. It is structured clinical work, not simply playing.
Which ages is play therapy suitable for?
Primarily ages 4 to 12. With younger children (4-7) we lean on non-directive, child-led play in the tradition of Virginia Axline; with older children (8-12) structured CBT-based play — designed games, stories and role-play targeting a specific difficulty — becomes more prominent. Teenagers are usually better served by talking therapy within our child and adolescent service.
Last updated: July 2026 · Content reviewed by Berk Mete, MSc, GMBPsS
Give your child a room that speaks their language
Tell us your child's age and what you have noticed — we will suggest the right starting point and arrange a first parent meeting, in English. In person in Şirinyalı, 7 days a week, 09:00-21:00.
More for Families & Children
Service
Child & Adolescent Therapy
Talking-based work for older children and teenagers.
Screening
MOXO Attention Test
Objective assessment when focus is a question.
Service
Family Therapy
When the difficulty sits in the wider family system.
Service
Individual Therapy
Support for parents managing their own load.
Service
Couples Therapy
Support for the relationship behind the parenting.
Psychologist
Mısra İlksen Önder, MSc
Clinical psychologist — leads child and play-based work.
Psychologist
Berk Mete, MSc, GMBPsS
Founding clinical psychologist — Birkbeck, University of London.