Welcome to Filial therapy with Geraldine Thomas.

Filial Therapy is a unique combination of Play Therapy and Family Therapy. Parents know their children and are experts on many details of their lives so they are in a strong position to help them deal with challenging experiences or developments. With parents as true partners in the therapeutic process Filial Therapy builds on a relationship which is already the most important to the child and strengthens the parent-child relationship directly. Filial therapy recognises that most therapeutic work can happen at home. In this way it can strengthen existing bonds, prevent future difficulties, and help families work through bigger challenges in a playful and creative way.

Geraldine has many years experience working with children and families in a variety of settings and has focused her work on helping create attachments between children and their parents or carers. She is a clinician, researcher, supervisor and lecturer and her research informs her practice as a Filial and Play Therapist, trainer and supervisor.

As an expert in the field of children’s play and adult attachment she also offers assessments of children’s attachment needs and Adult Attachment Style. She dedicates some of her time to providing intensive training in Filial Therapy and on presenting workshops on assessment, therapeutic methods, working with adult attachment style and children who have suffered abuse and neglect.

During the last twenty years Geraldine has worked as a therapist providing specialist therapeutic work for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and has pioneered comprehensive play therapy interventions in primary schools. In pursuing research and teaching interests she has worked in the field of attachment research and adoption outcomes with Lifespan Research Group and as a supervisor and visiting lecturer at the Universities of York and Roehampton.

Geraldine specialises in Filial Therapy, both for individual families and groups and as a Certified Trainer she provides training for eligible qualified play therapists. She is committed to Filial Therapy as the approach of choice for resolving family distress and creating long lasting child and family changes. As a therapist and trainer she is an advocate of this unique and playful process that empowers both children and parents to create the conditions that build attachment, promote healthy family relationships and resolve many child behaviour and developmental difficulties.

Geraldine speaks English, Dutch, French and Spanish and is a culturally sensitive practitioner.