"Subject Areas/Keywords: adolescents, art therapy, behavioral problems, brief, child psychotherapy, children, creative therapies, developmental disabilities, emotional problems, families, family, interventions, parents, play therapy, psychological disorders, short-term, solution-focused, trauma DESCRIPTION Illustrated with rich case examples, this widely used practitioner resource and text presents a range of play approaches that facilitate healing in a shorter time frame. Leading play therapists from diverse theoretical orientations show how to tailor brief interventions to each child's needs. Individual, family, and group treatment models are described and clinical guidelines are provided. Chapters demonstrate ways to rapidly build alliances with children, adolescents, and their caregivers; plan treatment for frequently encountered clinical problems; and get the most out of play materials and techniques."--

This volume presents a variety of play approaches that facilitate children's healing in a shorter time frame. Invaluable for any clinician seeking to optimize limited time with clients, the book provides effective methods for treating children struggling with such challenges as posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, disruptive behavior, mood disorders, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and parental divorce. Individual, family, and group treatment models are described and illustrated with richly detailed case examples. Featuring session-by-session guidelines, chapters demonstrate how to engage clients rapidly, develop appropriate treatment goals, and implement carefully structured brief interventions that yield lasting results.

First Published in 2012. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

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.

This book helps practitioners choose from the broad range of play therapy approaches to create a comprehensive treatment plan that meets the individual needs of each child. From leaders in the field, the volume provides a flexible roadmap for assessment, case formulation, and intervention for frequently encountered psychological disorders and adversities. The focus is creating a unique therapy "prescription" that is tailored to the child's presenting problems as well as his or her strengths, challenges, and developmental level. Contributors present up-to-date knowledge on each clinical problem, describe practices that have been shown to be effective, and share vivid illustrations of work with 3- to 16-year-olds and their parents.

Highly practical and user friendly, this book presents 58 play therapy techniques that belong in every child clinician's toolbox. The expert authors draw from multiple theoretical orientations to showcase powerful, well-established approaches applicable to a broad range of childhood problems. Activities, needed materials, and variations of each technique are succinctly described. Of critical importance for today's evidence-based practitioner, each chapter also includes a historical perspective on the technique at hand, a rationale explaining its therapeutic power, and a review of relevant empirical findings. The book enables readers to determine which strategies are appropriate for a particular child or group and rapidly incorporate them into practice.

This book presents a comprehensive guide to applying Meier and Boivin's Self-in-Relationship Psychotherapy model to clinical work with individuals, couples, families and children. The central theme of the book is that the paradigm of affects, cognitive processes and behaviors that informs current psychotherapy approaches needs to be broadened to include core self, relational and physical intimacy needs as motivating factors in psychotherapy. Drawing on multiple influences including relational psychoanalysis, the authors illustrate how to work with core needs when providing therapy to children and adults. They establish that core needs are universal, and their realizations are essential for healthy living and argue that clients achieve the healthiest outcomes by finding a way to balance the self alongside their relations with others. The concept of core self, relational and physical intimacy needs is what binds all the chapters in this book and makes it unique among psychotherapy approaches. With a clear transtheoretical approach and rich clinical vignettes, this book is core reading for any psychotherapists, psychoanalyst, or practicing psychologists.

Illustrating the power of play for helping children overcome a wide variety of worries, fears, and phobias, this book provides a toolkit of play therapy approaches and techniques. Coverage encompasses everyday fears and worries in 3- to 12-year-olds as well as anxiety disorders and posttraumatic problems. Leading practitioners describe their approaches step by step and share vivid illustrative case material. Each chapter also summarizes the research base for the interventions discussed. Key topics include adapting therapy to each child's developmental level, engaging reluctant or less communicative clients, and involving parents in treatment.

Christiane Brems, an experienced clinician, supervisor, and educator, presents a metatheoretical yet practical guide to working with children ages 3 to 12 years. She draws heavily on developmental, interpersonal, family systems, and self-psychological schools of thought and integrates the core components of all of these approaches in a clear and concise manner. She stresses the need for intensive assessment to precede conceptualization and treatment planning so that treatment techniques are dictated by the needs of each child and family. Brems has contoured the third edition to meet the practical needs and expectations of students and practitioners. Divided among four sections, the chapters follow the logical development of clinicians, mirroring the natural flow of work with childrenfrom the practitioners self-exploration, to learning about special aspects of children (such as diversity and development), to awareness about the special needs and demands of children as related to environmental, legal, and ethical issues. Brems prepares clinicians to discover their own personal traits that may facilitate or hinder their work with children. She walks child therapists and counselors through the initial stages of intake, assessment, and conceptualization. The material on assessment instruments is thoroughly updated; discussions refer to the latest versions of instruments, and if new instruments emerged that meet one of the purposes deemed essential to child treatment, they are included. The text contains case examples, each illustrating a specific therapeutic technique.

A complete, comprehensive play therapy resource for mental health professionals Handbook of Play Therapy is the one-stop resource for play therapists with coverage of all major aspects written by experts in the field. This edition consolidates the coverage of both previous volumes into one book, updated to reflect the newest findings and practices of the field. Useful for new and experienced practitioners alike, this guide provides a comprehensive introduction and overview of play therapy including, theory and technique, special populations, nontraditional settings, professional and contemporary issues. Edited by the founders of the field, each chapter is written by well-known and respected academics and practitioners in each topic area and includes research, assessment, strategies, and clinical application. This guide covers all areas required for credentialing from the Association for Play Therapy, making it uniquely qualified as the one resource for certification preparation. Learn the core theories and techniques of play therapy Apply play therapy to special populations and in nontraditional settings Understand the history and emerging issues in the field Explore the research and evidence base, clinical applications, and more Psychologists, counselors, marriage and family therapists, social workers, and psychiatric nurses regularly utilize play therapy techniques to facilitate more productive sessions and promote better outcomes for patients. Handbook of Play Therapy provides the deep, practical understanding needed to incorporate these techniques into practice.