Play Therapy Today brings together the work of renowned practitioners and academics currently working and researching in therapeutic play and play therapy, and presents a range of ground-breaking methods for practising with groups, individuals, and parents and carers. Providing an overview of new or revitalised topics in play therapy, each chapter presents the relevant theoretical underpinnings and principles of practice, a guide to implementing the method and case study vignettes of the approach in practice. The three sections include chapters on: the Therapeutic Touchstone model and the development of the therapeutic relationship, an overview of the use of individual play therapy techniques with children in a hospital setting, and an overview of Yasenik and Gardner’s Play Therapy Dimensions Model with an in-depth exploration of the dimension of consciousness from both a theoretical and practical, play-based orientation. Jennings’ Embodiment-Project-Role model and its implementation in group work, the practical use of puppets in educational and therapeutic settings, the therapeutic value of working with groups in the outdoors, and the use of play in groups for children with a variety of sensory, intellectual and physical disabilities. Stagnitti’s adaptation of the ‘Learn to Play’ programme for parent/carer use, Group Theraplay with peer groups and parent/child dyads and how a neurosequential approach supports case conceptualization and play therapy practice with families. The book provides practitioners with up-to-date, effective and practical techniques that they can put into immediate use in their clinical work with children and their families. It is an important resource for trainee, newly qualified and seasoned play therapists, play therapy supervisors and trainers. It will also be of interest to social workers, teachers, psychologists, child psychotherapists and other health professionals.

This highly practical book presents current developments in play therapy, including innovative applications for particular problems and populations. Contributors first discuss the latest ideas and techniques emerging from object relations, experiential, dynamic, and narrative perspectives. Next, research evaluating the effectiveness of play interventions is reviewed in detail. The book's third and largest section demonstrates creative approaches for helping children deal with a variety of adverse circumstances: homelessness, family problems, sexual abuse, social aggression, natural disasters, and more. Throughout, rich case illustrations enhance the book's utility for clinicians.

The purpose of this text is to present a resource to students and practitioners of play therapy that addresses topics beyond the training level. It provides advanced knowledge on the three main areas of play, child development, and play therapy and integrates them to help the play therapist gain a holistic understanding of how play therapy works.

Play Therapy for Very Young Children presents the major models of play interventions with very young children, primarily ages zero to three, and their families. The editors have compiled essays by child development experts to create a comprehensive guide of the most beneficial...

While many books and current research in the field of child psychotherapy focus on typical psychiatric conditions faced by children and the associated treatments for those conditions, there is a paucity of information on treating vulnerable demographics and unique child populations. These include, but are not limited to, children affected by natural disasters, complex trauma, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Play Therapy with Vulnerable Populations: No Child Forgotten provides the latest research-supported, play-based interventions for clinicians to utilize with these children. This book encourages the reader through real-world application case studies to honor the significance of the therapeutic relationship and balance humanism and therapeutic warmth with evidence-based practices.

Psychoanalytically Informed Play Therapy: Fantasy-Exposure Life-Narrative Therapy is a structured manual for the execution of FELT, an integrative play therapy that marries the analytic, relational, and psychodynamic aspects of traditional Play Therapy with the scientific rigor and replicability standards of clinical empiricism. Jason Steadman’s FELT model creates a structured, empirically derived means of monitoring children’s play using psychoanalytic methods. Steadman’s method proposes the usage of story stems to structure play to address critical needs in children’s psychological development. In FELT, Steadman teaches readers how to identify problematic play themes and how to respond therapeutically to drive play and general child development toward healthy directions. Steadman uses anxiety as the primary example of psychological distress for FELT, but also shows how the method can be applied to many other pathologies, such as depression and trauma. Steadman explains 11 core FELT themes, which are then further condensed to three major clinical targets identified in the play of clinically anxious children. Each of these is described in detail in the book and therapists are shown not only how to reliably identify themes, but how to focus their interventions to move children toward major play-based targets. Integrating psychoanalytic theory with an emphasis on Object Relations, Steadman’s FELT program highlights the importance of the self in healthy child development and how play-based psychotherapy can be used to help children build stronger, healthier selves that can face a wide variety of psychological issues across their lifespan. Including comprehensive theoretical underpinnings and thorough clinical examples of FELT at work, this volume will allow therapists, clinicians, and mental health workers to understand childhood play in an empirically based manner and show them how to integrate the key tenets of FELT into their own work to better aid children experiencing anxiety and other mental health concerns.

This book is unique in exploring the process of conducting short-term intensive group play therapy and the subsequent results. It focuses on play therapy with special populations of aggressive acting-out children, autistic children, chronically ill children, traumatized children, selective mute children, disassociative identity disorder adults with child alters, and the elderly. The book addresses such vital issues as: * How play therapy helps children * Confidentiality in working with children * How to work with parents * What the play therapist needs to know about medications for children The difficult dimension of diagnosis is clarified through specific descriptions of how the play therapist can use play behaviors to diagnose physical abuse, sexual abuse, and emotional maladjustment in children.

Solution-Focused Play Therapy is an essential text that blends the process of play therapy with solution-focused therapy. With a focus on child strengths and resources, this book identifies key concepts and principles in solution-focused play therapy (SFPT). The author provides neurobiological and developmental support for SFPT and guidance on how practitioners can transition from using a non-directive approach to a more directive and activity-based approach based on the developmental needs of the child. Chapters describe the 12 basic skills needed for employing this approach with children of all ages and their families. Harnessing a strengths-oriented approach, the author presents expressive ways to use key SFPT techniques, including the miracle question, scaling, finding exceptions, and end-of-session feedback. Clinicians will come away from the book with a suite of interventions, strategies, handouts, and forms that can be employed with children of all ages and their families, from strength-based assessment and treatment planning to the final celebration session.

Selected as an Outstanding Academic Title by Choice Magazine, January 2010 The Encyclopedia of Play: A Social History explores the concept of play in history and modern society in the United States and internationally. Its scope encompasses leisure and recreation activities of children as well as adults throughout the ages, from dice games in the Roman empire to video games today. As an academic social history, it includes the perspectives of several curricular disciplines, from sociology to child psychology, from lifestyle history to social epidemiology. This two-volume set will serve as a general, non-technical resource for students in education and human development, health and sports psychology, leisure and recreation studies and kinesiology, history, and other social sciences to understand the importance of play as it has developed globally throughout history and to appreciate the affects of play on child and adult development, particularly on health, creativity, and imagination.

Written for use in play therapy and child counseling courses, this extraordinarily practical text provides a detailed examination of basic and advanced play therapy concepts and skills and guidance on when and how to use them. Kottman’s multitheoretical approach and wealth of explicit techniques are also helpful for clinicians who want to gain greater insight into children’s minds and enhance therapeutic communication through the power of play. After a discussion of the basic concepts and logistical aspects of play therapy, Kottman illustrates commonly used play therapy skills and more advanced skills. Introduced in this edition is a new chapter on working with parents and teachers to increase the effectiveness of play therapy. Practice exercises and “Questions to Ponder” throughout the text facilitate the skill-building and self-examination process. *Requests for digital versions from ACA can be found on www.wiley.com. *To purchase print copies, please visit the ACA website *Reproduction requests for material from books published by ACA should be directed to [email protected]