‘Play’ Workshop: 3rd in series of “5 Keys to Flourishing”, facilitated by David Brown and Vanda Selby

Saturday 20 September 2025

3 reviews from 3 different participants

Mary Burner’s review: 

I certainly think we got our 5 ‘Vitamins’ given to us at this workshop – Learning, Relationship, Spirituality, Helping and Play.

On arrival we sat in a circle, and in the middle were a selection of toys, musical instruments, rattles, puzzles and fluffy toys for us all to peruse while we were preparing for the day. The invitation came to choose something meaningful to us, so everyone got up and chose his or her special item and then make a connection with it.

We were asked to introduce our choice to everyone and say how we chose it, what it meant and was there a memory attached. Just in the first exercise many doors were opened for people to allow tears, laughter and stories.

This was the introduction to the day that followed. It brought everyone closer to each other and provided support to allow ourselves to let go.

David’s explanation about ‘Healthy Play’ is ‘Joyful, Spontaneous, Humorous and Imaginative’ with questions about play in our lives – ‘Give yourself a score out of 10 for how happy you are with the level of play/playfulness in your life’. We spoke to our colleague next to us about our experiences.

We were given many themes to explore either to ourselves or with each other.

Then, after lunch, invited to work with the images of ourselves that had appeared in these explorations. Everyone excitedly chose what art utensils and mediums they wanted to cover a large piece of paper – and the room went quiet. Help and support was given to people who found this experience challenging.

After a while everyone ended their work, and put the images on the floor. An absolutely amazing array of colour, patterns and drawings emerged, which everyone was then invited to describe and explain – to tell the story. These images related to the beginning of the day in many cases, and the relationships and memories. With spirituality emerging in some areas especially with the support and help from colleagues to safely allow words to flow to end the day.

Play is vital in our lives, and a laugh a day keeps the doctor away!

Thank you so much to David and Vanda for an inspiring day.

Divya Sharma’s review

Play’ was the third workshop in David and Vanda’s series that I attended, and like the previous two events, I came away feeling enthused, happy, and content.

I was surprised what started as a fully packed room, through use of play, brought us all together so quickly where we felt relaxed, interconnected and as one ‘whole ‘as the day progressed.

The simple exercise eg- pick our favourite toy, not only made me reflect at my childhood but connect with emotions of others as everyone shared their memories. The way our inner child responded was very powerful and there were happy tears to witness as play was being reclaimed to attend to those old gaps. It was very emotive, innocent and the whole process very spontaneous, evolving, pure and natural.

Exercise on ‘healthy play’ made me reflect on my current life patterns and sharing it with the next person provided a sense of validation and its importance in life.

Words that stayed with me were abundance, flow, rhythm, curiosity and safety to explore.

The instant theatre was something unexpected and I found it very amusing, organic, and we all felt a part of the big finale. Actors really let their hair down and took on the roles using all the props, imagination and humour. There was no holding back and even the shiest were in their elements. It was great to see the personalities shine and a sense of non-judgemental, free energy where there was a real sense of oneness and connection. Not everyone had to join, and some of us could just bask in the atmosphere and absorb.

We had other creative exercises like visualisation where we captured our inner child on paper splashing our impressions in acrylics and pens. It was very meditative and contemplative. The Sun peeked in through the windows instilling trust and radiance in the room

It was a rich, nourishing day—a reminder that play is a vital vitamin for everyday to help us flourish.

David Whistance’s review

The healing oooooomph of creative play

While play has generally been a positive and supportive part of my life, one of the wonderful gifts of my counselling training was that it gave me first hand experiences of how valuable creative play can be as a way to enrich and deepen communication and self awareness. Like a lot of things, I suppose: It’s only when we really experience something that we truly appreciate it for what it is. Well, I had quite a few moments on the training day where I again appreciated the healing oooooomph of creative play.

One example stands out. We’d done an inner child visualisation, completed the initial group debrief and were then invited to use paints or felt tips etc to further explore this experience. At one time during the image making I looked up and saw everyone engrossed in their work at their tables. At that point I thought: ‘Wow! Everyone in the world needs moments like this!’ And then, when everyone’s images were on show and people shared what they felt called to share, I was again struck by the richness of what everyone had created. The same invitation, but we all responded with our own unique masterpieces.

I love using creative methods in my therapeutic work and was hoping for a day where I’d get a playful, creative, attitudinal and energetic refresh. My hopes were well and truly met :) What’s your relationship with play and creativity? However you’d describe it, I’d encourage you to deepen your appreciation of this important part of life and reach your own (potentially revised?) conclusions about how it might support you and your therapeutic work.