Children from around the world show us God in ways that we may have forgotten

"When I looked out my window at the changing seasons, I didn't really see anything at all. My eyes were focused on my work and all the tasks I had to do each day.... Then one morning...racing to get to work, I caught a glimpse of the fiery red leaves of a Japanese maple tree in late autumn. For a moment I stopped in my tracks. It was a wake-up call. 'There is a world out there, ' I thought, 'and a world beyond that world. And you, ' I said to myself, 'are missing both. If this is what it means to be an adult, you need to find a way to see the world more like a child.'"from the introduction

What does God do? How do we let God in? If you met God, what would you say?

Here are the "theological" answers of young spiritual thinkers from around the world, representing more than twenty different religious traditions. In sharing how they see God, they'll help you to see God in new ways.

In a poetic language of images all their own, these children re-awaken us to the mysteries and wonders of the universe, and lead us to our own understanding of the spiritual.

As an emerging psychotherapeutic discipline, drama therapy has been gaining global attention over the last decade for its demonstrated efficacy in the treatment of child and adolescent populations. However, despite this attention and despite the current turbulent state of the world and the increasing population of disturbed and at-risk children, the field of drama therapy has so far lacked a standard text. Weber and Haen's book fills this need, providing a core text for graduate students and established professionals alike. Clinical Applications of Drama Therapy in Child and Adolescent Treatment is guided by theory, but firmly rooted in practice, providing a survey of the many different possibilities and techniques for incorporating drama therapy within child and adolescent therapy. More than merely a survey of the existing literature on drama therapy, this text represents a true expansion of the field: one which articulates the breadth of possibilities and applications for drama therapy in the larger context of psychotherapy.

The innovative drama therapy programme develops social skills in children and teens on the autism spectrum by looking to the mirror neuron system as the key to social connection and interaction. Lee R. Chasen provides an accessible explanation of the approach's grounding in neuroscience, followed by a thirty-session program involving creative tools such as guided play, sociometry, puppetry, role-play, video modeling and improvisation. Scenarios drawn from his own practice provide useful insights into both the practicalities and positive results of this unique approach. This ground-breaking book will be of interest to drama and creative arts therapists, as well as teachers, school psychologists, counsellors and other professionals who work with children on the autism spectrum.

This book is intended to explore how action approaches to psychotherapy grew out of Western verbal methods and even traditional shamanic practices, eventually coalescing into a theory and practice that is creative and holistic. As the central concept in the book, action refers to the therapeutic application of drama, play and non-verbal expression in the service of engaging the body, mind and emotions of clients in a process of healing. The action psychotherapies featured in the book primarily include Gestalt therapy, psychodrama, and drama therapy, although the focus will be upon the latter two. The main purpose of this book is to make a case for the inclusion of the action psychotherapies into the mainstream of psychotherapy, mental health counseling and clinical social work. This perspective is well supported by the addition of action psychotherapies within recent mainstream anthologies in play therapy, counseling and psychotherapy, and by current research in neuroscience, pointing to the holistic nature of the brain and its dramatic networks, such as the mirror neurons. Action approaches will be seen as especially valuable for mental health professionals who conceive of their work within a holistic, creative and relational framework.

Based on a study conducted with chronically ill children, Pediatric Dramatherapy: They Couldn't Run So They Learned To Fly shows how children who are unable to verbalize their feelings or inner conflicts can do so through dramatherapy. The major sources of stress for chronically ill children are examined as they relate to situations within selected stories. Through detailed case studies, commentaries and analysis this groundbreaking book demonstrates a connection between the child's symbolic expression and the struggle with illness. The use of puppets, masks, make-up and costume accessories enhances the children's ability for self expression. This fascinating study will be a significant resource for all those working with traumatized children as well as an important contribution to the emerging field of arts medicine.

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.

Drama therapy provides valuable opportunities for children on the autism spectrum to interact and connect with others in a fun, supportive environment. The innovative model of drama therapy described in this book is rooted in neuroscience, and designed specifically to develop social, emotional and expressive language skills in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Lee R. Chasen provides an accessible explanation of the theoretical foundations, concepts and techniques that make up the approach, and describes in detail a thirty-session drama therapy program which uses creative and playful tools such as guided play, sociometry, puppetry, role-play, video modeling and improvisation. Scenarios drawn from his own practice provide useful insights into the practicalities of setting up and running such a program, as well as into how children's social, emotional and expressive language skills deepen through their immersion in this unique approach. This book will be of interest to drama and creative arts therapists, as well as teachers, school psychologists, counsellors and other professionals who work with children with autism spectrum disorders.

Robert Landy has assembled a collection of essays which encompasses his experience as a dramatherapist. The concept of 'double life' can be seen to be a central theme running through the work - encapsulating the dramatherapist's need to balance the issues of theory, practice and personal growth. The range of essays includes both theory and practice. Landy tackles issues of training and research, examines concepts - such as that of role - in dramatherapy and presents case studies, such as the ambitious 'The Double Life - A Case of Bipolar Disorder'. Uniting entirely new material with some of Landy's most respected work, this collection will be of enduring importance to dramatherapists, teachers and students of dramatherapy, and all those with an interest in creative arts expression.