'Play isn’t just for children, it’s a powerful tool for change': How WayMaker is transforming children’s mental health in Northern Ireland
Eileen Russell, founder and clinical lead of WayMaker Child Therapy CIC in Ballymena is championing play therapy as a serious solution to the mental health crisis – combining neuroscience, storytelling, and compassion to give every child a voice
Starting WayMaker was never just about launching a business, it was about filling a gap that was painfully obvious.
After training as a play therapist, I quickly realised that while play therapy is life changing for children, there simply weren’t enough roles available to practice it in Northern Ireland.
It felt instinctively right to do something to raise the profile of play therapy, create awareness of the countless benefits it provides and make it accessible to those who need it most.
I have a strong passion to advocate for the play therapy profession in Northern Ireland. I am a course director for the PTUK Postgraduate Certificate in Therapeutic Play Skills and I am honoured to be the PTUK Ambassador for 2025.
Before WayMaker, I spent 15 years working strategically in children’s services within the public sector. That experience gave me deep insight into how systems work and how they sometimes don’t.
I saw the cracks in children’s mental health services in Northern Ireland and knew I had the skills, connections, and passion to do something about it. That’s when WayMaker was born, a not-for-profit social enterprise built on the belief that every child deserves support, no matter their background.
Day to day, we offer a range specialist interventions like play and art therapy, sensory support and reflex integration. Our sessions are fun but grounded in neuroscience and attachment theory. Every day is different, and while it can be emotionally intense work, it’s also incredibly rewarding. The highs are those moments when a child who came in shut down starts to open up, or when a parent tells us they finally feel hopeful.
The lows, of course, are the waiting lists and the funding battles, but we work hard to find solutions.
At WayMaker, we harness the power of storytelling to foster emotional well-being and resilience in children and families. As part of this, I have created and directed a short film that delicately addresses themes of loss and healing for children and was delighted that it made its big screen debut at last year’s Cinemagic.
‘A New Day for Little Bear’ employs a therapeutic metaphor to guide young audiences through the emotions of grief and recovery. In the short film, Little Bear faces the heartbreak of losing his cherished stars, a symbol of his comfort and joy.
Through the gentle unfolding of events, Little Bear learns to embrace the beauty of a new experience – the sunrise. This transition from night to day symbolises hope, resilience, and the possibility of finding new light after darkness. I’m thankful that we are able to help children and families through such a difficult time in their lives.
We have plans for other animations with Little Bear currently underway looking at emotional regulation and separation anxiety.
We’ve grown carefully over the last few years and now employ a small but mighty team. This year, we’ve been working behind the scenes on some really exciting developments.
With support from Future Screens NI, we’ve been developing an online platform full of therapeutic animations and clips for parents. It’s designed to extend our reach beyond the therapy room and will officially launch in February next year.
What keeps me going is knowing we’re building something sustainable.
We’re not chasing funding cycles, we’re designing a resilient model that supports children while staying rooted in values of compassion and creativity.
We believe in doing business differently, and we’re proud to be proving that play isn’t just for children, it’s a powerful tool for change at every level.