For children, therapy can be a scary thing. Seeing a therapist can be difficult for adults, as it requires trusting a new person and often entails divulging the most intimate details of one's life. Imagine, then, how difficult it must be for children to adjust to counseling. It is necessary to create a comfortable environment for them to feel safe and able to open up. In this research paper, I will be exploring the efficacy of play therapy in history and across many cases, from its first mention in publication in the seventies to today, when it is the focus of a major psychological association (APT), and is practiced with massive success by child psychologists everywhere.
According to Eliana Gil, Freud appears to be the first to incorporate play therapy into his sessions as early as 1909. Twenty years later, Anna Freud and Melanie Klein expounded upon this practice with theory regarding the psychoanalytic components of play therapy and its uses, including establishing rapport between patient and therapist and substituting for verbalization of desires (Gil 28). Play was considered highly symbolic of innermost wishes, and Klein saw in play therapy the potential to fully equate the methods to the technique of free association in adults (Gil 28). Following these theories was a period marked by the introduction of more structured therapy, with the therapist directing the focus of each session toward a solution. The cathartic effects of play therapy were still acknowledged, leading the way for theories to suggest that suppressed emotion due to traumatic experience could be released through play. In 1955, Hambridge postulated that the child could directly recreate the events of traumatic experience in play to help with the release of th...
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...nseling and Student Services.
Lipchik, E. (1988). Interviewing with a constructive ear. Dulwich Center Newsletter, Winter, 3-7.
Ray, D., Bratton, S., Rhine, T., & Jones, L. (2001). The effectiveness of play therapy: Responding to the critics. International Journal of Play Therapy, 10(1), p. 85-108.
Selekman, M. D. (1997). Solution-Focused Therapy With Children. New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
Springer, J.F., Phillips, J., Phillips, L., Cannady, L., and Kerst-Harris, E. (1992). CODA: A creative therapy program for children in families affected by abuse of alcohol or other drugs. Journal of Community Psychology, p. 55-74.
Ray, D., Bratton, S., Rhine, T., & Jones, L. (2005). The efficacy of play therapy with children: a meta-analytic review of treatment outcomes. Professional Psychology, Research and Practice,36(4), 376–390. doi:10.1037/0735-7028.36.4.376.
This study looked at the therapeutic relationship and its influence in the process of Child-centered play therapy (CCPT). An exploratory single subject quantitative-qualitative design was used to examine therapist relational variables and their associations with changes in children’s behavior in CCPT (Hilliard, 1993; Jordans, Komproe, Tol, Nsereko, & De Jong, 2013). Specifically, we examined changes in levels of therapist process variables and their corresponding relationships with changes in children’s behaviors within and between cases to better understand therapeutic processes that impact child behavior, as well as the therapeutic relationship.
In 1910, they moved to Budapest where she began to take a Psychoanalysis course with Sandor Ferenczi. Where he came up with an idea that she should perform psychoanalysis to her own children. Doing so, she came up with a technique called “play techniques”. This is where the child play activity was taking as a symbolic unconsciousness material and interpreted into the same way dreams and free association are in adult analysis. Melanie was the first to view children’s play as meaningful, and later on this technique became a contribution to play therapy (Donaldson,G. n.d).
Play therapy gives a safe and caring environment for the child to play with a small amount of limitations; which promotes physical and emotional safety. There is no medication used in this type of therapy. “Play and creativity operate on impulses from outside our awareness – the unconscious.” (playtherapy.org) There many benefits to play therapy for children. It helps children “develop respect and acceptance of self and others, learn to experience and express emotion, and learn new social skills and relational skills with family.” (a4pt.org) It would be important to have Maria’s father included in her treatment. Therapists recommend for every person in the child’s life to be part of the child’s therapy but at the least they would like to create a plan with the caretaker to resolve issues and keep track of
The theory of therapy that I have personalized and developed is that of an Integrative Play Therapy Approach (IPT). Gil, Konrath, Shaw, Goldin & McTaggart Bryan (2015) describe this method as an approach which utilizes a combination of two or more therapeutic styles. This will allow my personal theory to be customized as needed to meet varying client needs. In developing my individual theoretical orientation of therapy, I took into consideration my experiences within the field and my previous education, as well as my own values, personality traits and my natural therapeutic style. Additionally, the setting in which this therapeutic style is being utilized is taken into account. Given this, it is important to highlight that my approach will
Wehrman, J. D., & Field, J. E. (2013). Play-Based Activities in Family Counseling. American Journal of Family Therapy, 41(4), 341-352. doi:10.1080/01926187.2012.704838
Rye N. Child-Centred Play Therapy. In: JH Stone, M Blouin, editors. International Encyclopedia of Rehabilitation. 2010.
... play has a strong impact on a child’s emotional development as well (Hjelmstedt & Collins, 2008).
For this assignment I have chosen Jean Piaget’s cognitive development theory and Erik Erikson’s psychosocial development theory.
O’conner, K. & Braverman, L. (2009) Play Therapy, Theory and Practice; Wiley & Sons, Inc, Hoboken, New Jersey.
Like the latter, an essay by Gray, P. (2016) also showed researches on play deficit. He found out that most professionals who succeeded and happy are those who were not deprived in playing. He then concluded that, play deprivation is not good for children and other things. It promotes anxiety, depression, narcissism, loss of creativity and
Both types of therapies had the specific elements that PCIT wanted to convey. One element was an emotional calm that play therapy produced in work with children. However, the calm play that the therapist and child do inside session, is far from the relationship that the parent and child may have outside therapy. By training the child’s parent to provide behavior therapy, enables treatment benefits to be longer-lasting. The use of play therapy in parent-child interaction strengthens the parent-child attachment and provides the child greater exposure to the calming therapy with their own parent. However, play therapy is not the only appropriate intervention when it comes to disciplining children. Parents get the skills need to deal with the behavioral issues by the live parent training, for setting limits and drawing back from tough discipline (Funderburk,
This is a counselling method used to help youngsters communicate their inner experiences through using toys and play. Nondirective play therapy is a non-pathologizing technique founded on the belief that youngsters have the internal drive to attain wellness (Petruk, 2009). Play therapy is grounded on the theory that play is a youngster’s language, the toys considered the words a youngster uses to express or show their inner experiences and how they experience and perceive the world. Within a play session, and throughout the course of sessions, themes develop in the youngster’s play, giving the therapist insight into the child’s feelings, thoughts, experiences, and interpretations of their world (Petruk,
As the semester comes down to an end, I have realized how much I have grown. My knowledge for play therapy was not as large as it is now. I am so thankful that I was able to be in this class and learn what I have learned. The skill set I have gained has helped me tremendously with my practice.
..., J., & Garzoli, E. (2007, November 11). The Effectiveness of a Play-Based Curriculum in Early Childhood Education. Retrieved from http://teachplaybasedlearning.com/8.html
This theory suggests that play plays a vital role of treating children’s disorders, children are able to gain some sense of control and alleviate their negative emotions including anxieties, fears and traumas through playing (Heidman & Hewitt, 2010; Freud, 1961). From the psychoanalytic perspective, play has a cathartic effect for children as it can assist children to cope with adverse feelings (Wolfberg, 2009, p. 32). Therefore, play is regarded as a therapeutic method to deal with the emotional problems (Wolfberg, 2009, p. 32). Moreover, this theory is of the view that play is an avenue to connect children’s past, current and future inner life (Willians, 2009, p. 575). Sigmund Freud was the pioneer who made a considerable contribution to this theory and he called “play” as the “royal road” to the child’s conscious and unconscious world (Willians, 2009, p. 575). He believed that play allows a combination of fantasy with reality, children should spend time playing every day as it is very healthy and necessarily (Willians, 2009, p. 575). Children are able to resolve psychological dilemmas, soften their worries and develop their understanding of life experiences (Wolfberg, 2009, p. 32). Erikson had further developed this theory, he recognized that the particular events are critical to shape the nature of