Again, that is absolutely not the theories name.
Once upon a time, as your brain was developing, it focused on two types of learning.
Firstly, implicit learning, this is emotion lead, where your mind quietly picks up patterns, behaviours and expectations. Depending on how you were cared for, your brain shaped you into choosing safety or self expression.
Then, explicit learning, these are the things you learn and then recall, your ABC’s, 123’s, instructions and actions, such as teeth brushing and putting pants on your legs not your head.
We can learn all sorts of things implicitly, including things nobody ever intended to teach us.
We might learn:
“People are safe.”
“I am loved whether I am happy, sad, angry or make a mistake”
Or…
“I’d better not ask for help.”
“Keep everyone happy. Don’t make a fuss.”
Nobody may have actually said those words. But through our experiences, our brains can pick up the pattern.
Explicit learning is what we're told.
Implicit learning is what we absorb.
And sometimes, the things we absorb can be quietly shaping how we see ourselves, other people and the world around us, long after we’ve forgotten where we learned them.
Your memory isn’t blank because you cannot recall them, it’s because the memories are alive in your feelings not your thoughts.
If you are a parent, grandparent, cool aunty or loving caregiver, the play therapy card deck is chock full of positive implicit and explicit learnings, and best of all it’s delivered within a child’s favourite language of fun, laughter, connection and play.
