This book describes the nuts and bolts of play therapy and provides fifteen of the most popular materials and activities practitioners can use with children today. Play therapy has rapidly evolved into one of the most popular and effective models of child psychotherapy today. Play lets children express their thoughts and feelings through creative activity, and respond to their cognitive, emotional, and social developmental needs. Play modalities constitute the ‘nuts and bolts’ of play therapy practice. They are the basic materials and activities that clients engage in during play therapy treatments. This book offers 15 distinct modalities for play therapy. Some are classics in the field, including sand, block, and role play, while some are relatively new approaches such as electric game play and virtual reality play. It is important for child therapists to become competent in multiple modalities in order to tailor interventions to specific disorders, to combine modalities to strengthen an intervention, or to offer a child their preferred play model.

Contents:

• Introduction, by Heidi G. Kaduson and Charles E. Schaefer
• Chapter 1. Sandtray Therapy, by Daniel S. Sweeney
• Chapter 2. Doll Play, by Julie Blundon Nash
• Chapter 3. Block Play, by Mary Anne Peabody
• Chapter 4. The Use of Children’s Drawing in Play Therapy, by Nikole Jiggetts
• Chapter 5. Using Bibliotherapy as a Catalyst for Change, by DeeDee Ginns-Gruenberg and Cindy Bridgman
• Chapter 6. The Therapeutic Use of Stories in Play Therapy, by Sonia Murray
• Chapter 7. Puppet Play Therapy, by Elizabeth Kjellstrand Hartwig
• Chapter 8. Guided Imagery, by Clair Mellenthin
• Chapter 9. Dramatic Play Therapy, by Eliana Gil and Teresa Dias
• Chapter 10. Sensory Play Therapy, by Siobhan Prendiville
• Chapter 11. Clay Play Therapy, by Julie Meighan
• Chapter 12. The Use of Music and Movement in Play Therapy, by Susan A. Taylor
• Chapter 13. Therapeutic Use of Board Games with Children, by Jacqueline M. Swank and Jo L. Weaver
• Chapter 14. Electronic Game Play Therapy, by Kevin B. Hull
• Chapter 15. Therapeutic Extended Reality, by Richard Lamb and Elisabeth Etopio

Author Bio:

Heidi Gerard Kaduson, PhD, RPT-S, specializes in evaluation and intervention services for children with a variety of behavioural, emotional, and learning problems. She has edited and authored many books on play therapy and is a past president of the Association for Play Therapy and director of The Play Therapy Training Institute in Monroe Township, New Jersey.

Charles E. Schaefer, PhD, is an emeritus professor of psychology and former director of the Center for Psychological Services at Fairleigh Dickinson University. He is the cofounder and board member emeritus of the International Association for Play Therapy and is the founder of the Play Therapy Training Institute in New Jersey.With more than 40 years of experience working with children and parents, Dr. Schaefer has received numerous awards for his clinical and research work on child development, parenting, and play therapy; has published more than 60 books and numerous articles and book chapters on play-based interventions; and serves on several journal editorial review boards.