Healing Through Play: How Dr. Leeshe Grimes Uses Creativity to Unlock Emotional Growth in Children and Adults

Most people think healing starts with words. But sometimes, the heart speaks a different language, one built through play, imagination, and creativity. For those who can’t always find the words for what they feel, play becomes the doorway to expression and recovery.

That’s the world Dr. Leeshe Grimes works in every day. A licensed professional counselor, registered play therapist, and retired U.S. Army combat veteran, she leads Elevated Minds, a mental health practice known for its compassionate, culturally grounded approach. For Dr. Grimes, play is not a pastime; it’s a pathway to healing for both children and adults.

In her sessions, play therapy looks different depending on who is in the room. With children, it becomes a safe space to process what they can’t yet explain. Toys, art, or storytelling replace conversations. A child might act out fear through a superhero game or express sadness through drawing. These moments reveal emotions that words can’t always capture. Healing begins when a child feels seen and understood in that space.

But Dr. Leeshe’s work doesn’t stop with children. Many adults walk into therapy carrying the same unresolved pain they had as kids, only now it’s hidden under responsibility, success, or exhaustion. For them, play therapy looks more like creativity and exploration: painting, journaling, or simply learning to let go of control. Through these exercises, adults reconnect with parts of themselves they have buried, the inner child who still needs comfort, forgiveness, or permission to feel joy again.

Her approach is rooted in trauma-informed care. After years of serving in the U.S. Army, Dr. Leeshe saw how trauma reshapes people’s ability to feel safe, even long after the danger is gone. That experience gave her a deep understanding of how pain shows up differently in every person. She doesn’t force people to relive trauma; she helps them feel safe enough to face it gently, through creativity and compassion.

The results speak for themselves. Over the years, Dr. Leeshe Grimes has seen children regain confidence, manage anxiety, and communicate in healthier ways. Adults often rediscover joy, self-compassion, and emotional balance they thought they had lost. Healing through play, she has learned, doesn’t erase pain; it helps people hold it differently, with more understanding and less fear.

Still, play therapy challenges how society thinks about healing. Many adults are hesitant at first. They associate play with immaturity or avoidance, not growth. But Dr. Leeshe sees play as a form of honesty. When we create or imagine, we reveal truths that logic alone can’t reach. In her practice, that kind of vulnerability becomes the foundation for real transformation.

She also mentors young clinicians, encouraging them to approach therapy with curiosity rather than rigidity. She believes effective therapy requires connection more than perfection. Her goal is to expand access to mental health care that feels relatable, culturally aware, and deeply human. By teaching others to integrate creative methods into their work, she is ensuring that more people, especially in underrepresented communities, have access to care that meets them where they are.

In a world that often tells people to grow up and toughen up, Dr. Leeshe Grimes reminds us that healing sometimes begins by returning to the simplest act, play. Through creativity, empathy, and presence, she helps children and adults rediscover what it feels like to be whole again. Her work proves that healing doesn’t have an age limit; it just needs the courage to begin.