1. PLAY THERAPY
Chapter 10

2. Growth of Play Therapy
Growing interest in play therapy is correlated with the increase in dysfunctional families
Fragmented families
Divorce
School/neighborhood violence
Media violence
Abuse (Physical, Sexual, Emotional, Drug), neglect
Prolonged stress
(All of these factors contribute to the disruption of the child’s development and family bonding)
Benefits of Play Therapy
Alleviate consequences of trauma
Guide to parents and teachers for preventing children’s emotional trauma

3. Key Points for Consideration/ Play Therapy
Only trained professionals should initiate play therapy with children.
Adults talk out their emotions; Children play out their emotions. Play becomes the language in which children seek expression.
Play therapy can be directive (therapist guides and interprets), or it may be nondirective (responsibility and direction are left to the child).

4. History and Theories of Play Therapy
Psychoanalysis
Play therapy has it’s foundations in psychoanalysis
Repression is a key outcome in understanding psychoanalysis and play therapy
Transference/Resistance.
Transference. Attitudes transferred by the client to the therapist that were originally transferred to the parent or other significant person.
Resistance. Defensive striving against painful memories or experiences that can lead to forgetting and keeping experiences repressed and out of the consciousness.
Id, ego, superego
Oedipus complex

5. Carl Jung
Jung valued the therapeutic importance of individuality. Consequently, the therapist becomes a fellow participant in the therapeutic process
Jung also deviates from Freud with the interpretation of dreams. According to Jung, the patient should learn to understand his own dreams
Mental illness is related to the suppression of life experiences.
Like Freud, Jung emphasized the role of childhood life experiences in understanding neurosis

6. Psychoanalytic Play Therapy
Play provides an avenue for decontextualization
Play has cathartic effect (allowing children to purge themselves of negative feelings associated with traumatic events)
Play rids the child of the constraints and sanctions of reality (provides a safe zone for expression)
Play provides an opportunity to enhance understanding by changing roles (victim/punisher) and by transferring negative feelings to a substitute object (doll, puppet) or person (sibling, classmate).

7. Psychoanalytic Play Therapists
Melanie Klein
Integrated tenants of Sigmund and Anna Freud by emphasizing the role of free association through play
Children suffered from more acute stress than adults…Fewer coping strategies
Anna Freud
Focused on simple (less symbolic) interpretations of children’s play
Many of the noted problems in young children are related more to short-term experiences than long-term experiences
Implemented storytelling in therapeutic settings. As child expresses himself, the therapist assist in interpreting and understanding feelings.

8. Structured Play Therapy
SPT grew out of the Psychoanalytic tradition, but with there were significant differences regarding therapeutic procedures
Therapist is more aware than the child regarding the child’s needs (The therapist designs the activity, selects the medium, and makes the rules).
David Levy. Developed release therapy—Determine the cause of the child’s difficulty by studying case history, then carefully controlling the play by providing selected toys to help the child work out the problem.
Release of aggressive behaviors—throwing objects; bursting balloons
Release of feelings in a setting that simulate sibling rivalry—presenting a baby doll at a mother’s breast
Release of feelings by presenting in play the child’s stressful experiences
Gove Hambridge. Based on information from parents and observations, he developed hypotheses about the child’s stress, then recreated the stress through the child’s play. Emphasis was on slow release of stress and emotions.

9. Nondirective Therapy
Carl Rogers. Pioneer of client-centered (nondirective) therapy. Focus on the wellness of individuals and the pursuit of self-actualization.
Through therapy we focus on the client and her natural disposition towards relationship development and self-enhancement.
A we focus on the individual, the goal is to help children develop greater understanding of how they appear to themselves. In theory, the child can then begin the process of correcting the self.
Thought. Could it be that when we have challenging life experiences, the ego is unable to resolve the conflict and bring about resolution and consequently repression becomes the outcome. If this is the case, could it be that therapeutic intervention strengthens the ego and consequently enables the ego to do the rest???

10. Virginia Axline
Both V. Axline and C. Rogers purported that the therapeutic approaches traditionally employed on adolescents and adults possessed a unique feasibility to children as well.
The child is the most important person in the therapeutic process
The child possess the internal capacity to resolve problems of frustration, anxiety, aggression. Therapeutic intervention assists the child towards that process by providing an atmosphere that is supportive and void of stress and consequences
Child has freedom of expression
Child’s past becomes irrelevant to therapeutic process
Child has room to abort any aspect deemed too stressful

11. Conducting Play Therapy
Setting up the Playroom
Because play is seen as the child’s language through toys or resources, careful detail is given to the arrangement of playrooms (Rooms must be inviting and stimulating)
Beginning Play Therapy
Axline’s eight play principles
Therapist establishes a friendly relationship
Accepts the child as he is
Creates a permissive relationship; child has freedom of expression
Validates (acknowledge and reflect) child’s feelings
Responsibility for decisions and change is left mostly to the child
Child directs the therapeutic process; therapist follows
Therapeutic interaction is not rushed
Limits are set only when necessary for child’s outcomes

12. Structuring the Playroom Experience
Establishing Rapport
Through initial greeting and interaction, the therapist must create an environment that is safe and inviting. Afterwards, children become presented with an opportunity to enter into the therapeutic play area.
Structuring the Playroom Experience
The process of conveying to the child the special nature of the therapeutic relationship. Children are generally encouraged to play freely without consequences.

13. Settings and Applications of Play Therapy
Group Play Therapy
Ginott identified group play therapy to be equally important to individual play therapy because several children playing in a group created a more relaxed (anxiety reduced) environment for children to express themselves
In group process, rules are limited and children can experience catharsis through play or verbalization.
Filial Therapy
Louise Guerney (1964) noted the importance of training parents to conduct weekly play therapy session in the home
Theraplay has been introduced into problem families. Play related techniques are focused around rituals of bonding and traditional parent/child interactions. In theory, dysfunctional families may generally be limited in certain healthy parent/child interactions and consequently contributing to certain childhood dysfunctions.

14. Hospitalized Play Therapy
Through play, children can be desensitized to certain anxieties associated with medical procedures or hospitalized experiences.
Child Life Specialists can be employed to:
Prepare children for hospitalization and medical procedures
Provide guidance and materials for play
Advocate the child’s point of view with medical personnel
Provide emotional support to parents and siblings
Maintain a positive, receptive environment for children and their families
Play in Preschools and Elementary Schools
The charge is integrate necessary skill development and education through the instrument of play
The challenge is to implement this process in the midst of children who come from non-traditional and developmentally inappropriate backgrounds