Play therapy is a popular and important intervention for many children with psychological problems and traumatic life experiences. Written by a renowned expert in the field, Introduction to Play Therapy provides a basic grounding in play therapy intervention, answering questions such as:
· Who can play therapy help?
· What are the best settings for play therapy?
· How should you train in play therapy?
A variety of models of working with play are explored, and an evaluation of the meaning of childhood is discussed in clear language, illustrated with clinical examples.
This book will help adults who communicate with children in any role, be they parents, teachers or therapists.

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Dramatherapy is being increasingly practised in a range of therapeutic settings and is of growing interest to theatre practitioners and teachers. The Handbook of Dramatherapy brings together five authors who have considerable experience of clinical, artistic and educational work to provide an easy-to-read introduction to the major models of dramatherapy. The authors explain the differences between dramatherapy and psychodrama, discuss its relationship with theatre art, look at assessment and evaluation techniques, and argue the need for more appropriate methods of research for this increasingly popular form of therapeutic treatment.
The Handbook of Dramatherapy provides a comprehensive basis for theory and practice and will be an invaluable resource for all students of dramatherapy and theatre.

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Dramatherapy is being increasingly practised in a range of therapeutic settings and is of growing interest to theatre practitioners and teachers. The Handbook of Dramatherapy brings together five authors who have considerable experience of clinical, artistic and educational work to provide an easy-to-read introduction to the major models of dramatherapy. The authors explain the differences between dramatherapy and psychodrama, discuss its relationship with theatre art, look at assessment and evaluation techniques, and argue the need for more appropriate methods of research for this increasingly popular form of therapeutic treatment. The Handbook of Dramatherapy provides a comprehensive basis for theory and practice and will be an invaluable resource for all students of dramatherapy and theatre.

Play is one of the most creative opportunities open to a child, and is becoming of increasing interest to therapists and others in the caring professions. This book examines how children develop skills in play as a way of being creative, and how they can use play as a therapeutic process by mirroring their own life experiences in their games. Ann Cattanach outlines the theoretical basis and provides guidelines for work in this area. She examines the role of the therapist, and the different methods involved in therapy, such as creative free play and task-based play. Also covered is the use of play therapy in different work settings, such as the education service, the social services, and hospitals. She discusses the needs of the therapist, including the importance of supervision. The book contains case studies and ideas for working with emotionally disturbed children, abused children, and children facing death. Also included are notes and stories for the refreshment of the therapist.

While paediatric healthcare professionals view play as the treatment tool of choice for children under school age, the theory and practice underpinning play-based therapeutic approaches often remain less clear to individual practitioners. Paediatric intervention approaches are increasingly being questioned, and individual practitioners constantly asked to provide evidence-based practice. In response, a more coherent understanding and fresh discussion on children's play and utilisation of play for therapeutic purposes is needed, especially as societal expectations and lifestyles change. Play as Therapy provides background theory and practical applications of original research on play assessment and interventions used in therapy. The book offers a solid foundation for identifying and assessing play dysfunction, understanding play in different cultural contexts and considerations when intervening with play. The practical approach is underpinned by theory, research and case vignettes to explain how to utilise play as therapy with challenging children.

In the past twenty-five years, the practice of play therapy has increased exponentially in America and throughout the world. This handbook brings together an international group of scholars and therapists to address a wide variety of topics relevant to the rapidly expanding field of play therapy. The primary goal of the handbook is to provide play therapists with practical information they can put into immediate use in their clinical work with children and adolescents. Thus the focus is on advances in assessment, theory, research, and practice that have universal appeal, rather than on adaptations of play therapy to specific cultures. Play therapists and students from diverse cultures, professional disciplines, and theoretical orientations will find this book to be a comprehensive resource for keeping abreast of innovations in the field.

Praise for the first edition: 'Ann Cattanach writes with enormous empathy and warmth, and with a refreshing lack of sentimentality... [This] is an unpretentious and optimistic book, and a very positive addition to recent publications.' - British Association of Play Therapists 'I would recommend the book to anyone working in this field. This is a well presented, clear and easy-to-read book, providing a balanced mixture of factual information and case material.' - British Journal of Occupational Therapy 'What impressed me so much about this work was Cattanach's knowledge of children and their inherent strengths as well as their vulnerabilities. This practical and easy to apply book is recommended for anyone who works with abused children and would like further insight as well as practical and informative advice on healing the traumatized child.' - Trauma and Loss: Research and Interventions 'Her accounts of the way in which play is used to make sense of traumatic experiences are full of insight and often moving. All aspects of the work are covered. This is an exceptional volume - goes far beyond a mere text book.' - Therapy Weekly This second edition of Ann Cattanach's highly commended book explores the use of play therapy with abused children as a way of helping them heal their distress and make sense of their experiences through expanding their own creativity in play. The book provides practical ways of starting play therapy with abused children and explains how the child can use this process for healing. Models of intervention are described with consideration given to the particular needs of the child and the work setting of the therapist. Suggestions include short and medium term interventions, individual/group and sibling work. This edition provides new case study material, up-to-date information on relevant legislation on children's rights and welfare and recent developments in research in the field. This book is essential reading for professionals working with abused children, as well as those interested in the use of creative therapies.

Narrative play is a way of communicating with children using imaginative stories and narratives to share and make sense of life events. This book describes using narrative play therapeutically with children who have lived in multiple families, children who have problems with social understanding and children who have learning difficulties. Ann Cattanach explains how children's stories and narratives, whether they are about real or imagined events, can be interpreted as indicators of their experiences, their ideas, and a dimension of who they are. She demonstrates this with examples of children's stories from her clinical experience, and provides narrative play techniques and sample scripts both for therapists and for parents whose circumstances require a therapeutic parenting approach. This book is essential reading for play therapists, social workers and other professionals working with children, as well as parents and carers of children who are experiencing social and/or learning difficulties.

In the past twenty-five years, the practice of play therapy has increased exponentially in America and throughout the world. This handbook brings together an international group of scholars and therapists to address a wide variety of topics relevant to the rapidly expanding field of play therapy. The primary goal of the handbook is to provide play therapists with practical information they can put into immediate use in their clinical work with children and adolescents. Thus the focus is on advances in assessment, theory, research, and practice that have universal appeal, rather than on adaptations of play therapy to specific cultures. Play therapists and students from diverse cultures, professional disciplines, and theoretical orientations will find this book to be a comprehensive resource for keeping abreast of innovations in the field.

Identity is formed through the narration of experience, and children who experience difficult life events may need help in forming and expressing their own narratives. Play therapy can be an appropriate way of facilitating this kind of expression. This manual describes the work of nine play therapists through the narratives of children - and some adults - whose stories emerge during their play therapy sessions.;These stories are not direct accounts of real happenings but are imaginative, metaphorical, complex and multi-layered. The life events they relate include fostering, long-term illness, and the traumatic death of a close adult. One chapter examines attachment in families and another describes the Biography Laboratory project exploring story creation through action research.

Supervisors who wish to employ a more imaginative approach to their work will find concepts such as 'aesthetic distancing' and techniques derived from dramatherapy - the use of myths and stories, dramatic play and roles - particularly useful. Supervision and Dramatherapy explores the ways in which dramatherapy techniques and concepts can be applied to supervision, and looks at how supervisions are conducted within the field of dramatherapy. The contributors, leading dramatherapists from Britain, Continental Europe, the United States and Israel, have written on the historical background of supervion in dramatherapy, the process of dramatherapy supervision, the training of supervisor-dramatherapists, taking a dramatherapy approach to business supervisions, the supervision of crisis intervention teams and dramatherapy research. They offer insights into the relationships between supervisor, supervisee and client, and the dramatic roles that unfold during the supervision process. Drawing on their own experiences in clinical and non-clinical settings, and richly illustrating their accounts with examples from practice, they offer exciting and creative ways of effectively supervising dramatherapists and non-dramatherapists alike.

Arts therapists are becoming increasingly interested in process as it is manifested in their work. The multiplicity of levels at which process operates is the theme of this new book. What happens during a therapy session is examined, as are the client's response, which is experienced through the medium of the art form itself, and the evolution of the relationship between therapist and client. Perspectives from across the arts therapy spectrum are included, with contributions from practitioners in dramatherapy, play therapy, art therapy, music therapy and dance movement therapy. Re-evaluating the nature of the practice, Process in the Arts Therapies expands and develops the theory.

This study explores the potential of using stories to communicate with children in therapy. The natural resilience of the children allows them to distance themselves from events and create another "reality" in the stories where children can communicate emotionally without directly involving their emotions. The author seeks to show how through encouraging the stories and participating in them we can nurture both the children and their recovery process, and enable them to learn to live with their experiences.;Examples of stories by both childrn and professional authors are spread throughout the book to reinforce the argument that stories are a vital part of understanding the emotional and mental state of a child.