269 | Adulthood Bias: The Barrier to Parents Understanding Children's Behavior

Play Therapy Podcast: A Master-Class in Child-Centered Play Therapy · Feb 18, 2025 · 15m

In this episode, I introduce the concept of adulthood bias—the tendency for adults to forget what it was like to be a child, leading to unrealistic expectations for children's behavior. This bias causes adults to assume that children should think, reason, and communicate like adults, even though children are driven by emotions and experiences, not logic and cognition. I explain how this misunderstanding leads to frustration, power struggles, and dismissive interactions with kids.

I discuss how recognizing adulthood bias can help play therapists communicate the necessity of CCPT to parents and…