The clinically indispensable guide to using play in therapy, revised and updated.
Featuring new approaches developed since the publication of the successful first edition, The Play Therapy Primer, Second Edition offers health care professionals and students a balance of fundamentals, theory, and practical techniques for using play in therapy. Providing an ecosystemic perspective, the book defines distinctive approaches to the practice of play therapy that readers can integrate into a personalized and internally consistent theory and practice of their own. This timely resource also includes increased coverage of developmental issues and a new chapter discussing diversity issues with case examples.

Presenting stimulating and useful information for therapists at all levels of training, The Play Therapy Primer covers:

• A history of play therapy
• The major theories of play therapy in use today
• Ecosystemic Play Therapy theory and practice
• A conceptual framework for the practice of individual play therapy
• The course of individual play therapy
• Structured group play therapy
• Session-by-session treatment plans

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.

In the decade since its publication, Handbook of Play Therapy has attained the status of a classic in the field. Writing in the most glowing terms, enthusiastic reviewers in North America and abroad hailed that book as "an excellent resource for workers in all disciplines concerned with children's mental health" (Contemporary Psychology).

Now, in this companion volume, editors Kevin O'Connor and Charles Schaefer continue the important work they began in their 1984 classic, bringing readers an in-depth look at state-of-the-art play therapy practices and principles. While it updates readers on significant advances in sand play diagnosis, theraplay, group play, and other well-known approaches, Volume Two also covers important adaptations of play therapy to client populations such as the elderly, and new applications of play therapeutic methods such as in the assessment of sexually abused children.

Featuring contributions by twenty leading authorities from psychology, social work, psychiatry, psychoanalysis, and other related disciplines, Handbook of Play Therapy, Volume two draws on clinical and research material previously scattered throughout the professional literature and organizes it into four main sections for easy reference:

• Theoretical approaches— including Adlerian, cognitive, behavioral, gestalt, and control theory approaches as well as family, ecosystem, and others
• Developmental adaptations— covers ground-breaking new adaptations for adolescents, adults, and the elderly
• Methods and techniques— explores advances in traditional techniques such as sand play, Jungian play therapy, and art therapy, and examines other new, high-tech play therapies
• Applications— reports on therapeutic applications for psychic trauma, sex abuse, cancer patients, psychotics, and many others

The companion volume to the celebrated classic in the field, Handbook of Play Therapy, Volume Two is an indispensable resource for play therapists, child psychologists and psychiatrists, school counselors and psychologists, and all mental health professionals.

HANDBOOK OF PLAY THERAPY Edited by Charles E. Schaefer and Kevin J. O'Connor

". . . an excellent primary text for upper level students, and a valuable resource for practitioners in the field of child psychotherapy."— American Journal of Mental Deficiency

". . . a thorough, thoughtful, and theoretically sound compilation of much of the accumulated knowledge. . . . Like a well-executed stained-glass window that yields beauty and many shades of light through an integrated whole, so too this book synthesizes and reveals many creative facets of this important area of practice."— Social Work in Education 1983 (0-471-09462-5) 489 pp.

THE PLAY THERAPY PRIMER Kevin J. O'Connor

The Play Therapy Primer covers the impact of personal values and beliefs on therapeutic work, and provides a detailed description of the process preceding the beginning of therapy. It then offers guidelines and strategies for developing treatment plans respective of the various phases of therapy, including specific in-session techniques, modifications for different ages, transference considerations, and the termination and follow-up of clinical cases. 1991 (0-471-52543-X) 371 pp.

PLAY DIAGNOSIS AND ASSESSMENT Edited by Charles E. Schaefer, Karen Gitlin, and Alice Sandgrund

The first and only book to fully explore the assessment potential of play evaluation, this book offers an impressive array of papers by nearly fifty authorities in the field. Following a logical progression, it is divided into six parts covering the full range of practical and theoretical concerns, including developmental play scales for normal children from preschool to adolescence; diagnostic play scales including those for the evaluation of children with a variety of cognitive, behavioral, and/or emotional disorders; parent/child interaction play scales; projective play techniques; and scales for assessing a child's behavior during play therapy. 1991 (0-471-62166-8) 718 pp.

GAME PLAY Edited by Charles E. Schaefer and Steven E. Reid

This important work highlights the psychological significance of using games to assess and treat various childhood disorders. In chapters written by leading authorities, it examines the content of various types of games and provides theoretical approaches, techniques, and practical guidelines for applying games to play therapy with children. Case histories demonstrate the use of game play with childhood problems ranging from hyperactivity to divorce counseling and juvenile delinquency. 1986 (0-471-81972-7) 349 pp.

"Play Therapy Theory and Practice, Second Edition" is edited by one of the foremost authorities on play therapy. This new edition of the best selling book on the theory and practice of play therapy provides an up-to-date guide to the ten major approaches to play therapy. The new edition covers bipolar and ADHD diagnosis and the use of psychotropic medications. In addition, it covers the use of major models of play therapy. The therapist looking to sharpen skills and students seeking initial training will benefit greatly from this book.