The call for family-centered therapeutic services, especially for families of young children, has come from governmental organizations, professional associations, practitioners, and families. Play therapists and family therapists are prime candidates to provide such services, but professional research and literature suggest that practitioners…

At an alarming rate, preschoolers are being expelled from child care centers because of disruptive behavior, and elementary schools are dealing with social-emotional behaviors that affect the entire classroom. The authors share the story of a child who would have been one of those expelled from child care and at risk in the elementary school…

Adopted children may present with a wide range of disruptive behaviors making it difficult to implement holistic therapeutic interventions. The number of primary caregivers, disrupted placements, and repeated traumatic events contribute to the overall mental health of the adoptee and greater number of occurrences increases the risk of…

Play therapy is an effective means of responding to the mental health needs of young children and is widely accepted as a valuable and developmentally appropriate intervention. The authors discuss the importance of play in development, the therapeutic benefits of play, the rich history of play therapy, and recent research and current issues and…

Presents an interview with Eliana Gil, the current director of the Starbright Training Institute for child abuse and neglect, play therapy, and family play therapy in Springfield, Virginia. Gil's publications and experiences have spoken to coconstructing family therapy sessions that effectively integrate the paradigms of play and family therapy.…

Play therapy and filial therapy show promise as effective ways to provide direct services to Head Start, addressing the needs of the children, the families, and the Head Start teachers and staff. Examines the utility of play and filial therapies for the Head Start population, presents a systemic explanation for the benefit of filial therapy, and…

Active parent involvement in play therapy can add greatly to a child's development. As participants, parents can learn to empathize more readily with their children, thereby enabling them to grow and learn with them. (CJ)

Presents and illustrates by clinical examples a theoretical framework for developing, describing, and analyzing family-therapeutic techniques involving make-believe play. Induces specifications of the therapeutic goals served by the technique and its procedural details and an analysis of its rationale. Draws on a definition of the concept…

Play therapy offers a powerful means of helping children resolve a wide range of psychological difficulties, and many play approaches are ideally suited to short-term work. This book brings together leading play therapists to share their expertise on facilitating children's healing in a shorter time frame. The book provides knowledge and skills…

Presents a case where psychiatry and family therapy were used concurrently to treat a family disorder. The use of two modalities allowed the therapists to see the distress their prescriptions inflicted on the child. Concluded that family therapists should consider how their interventions affect young, vulnerable family members. (BH)

Rich with case material and artwork samples, this volume demonstrates a range of creative approaches for facilitating children's emotional reparation and recovery from trauma. Contributors include experienced practitioners of play, art, music, movement and drama therapies, bibliotherapy, and integrative therapies, who describe step-by-step…

Discusses a filial therapy model in which a parent and her child carry out play therapy in a group with other parents and children who are doing the same. Emphasis on the enhancement of parental skills in structuring environment, limitseting, and reflective listening. (Author/DOW)

This book acknowledges the contributions of Alfred Adler and illustrates the many ways in which Adlerian ideas underpin and influence contemporary therapeutic approaches. It brings together today's leading thinkers to address the practice of counseling and psychotherapy from a social-cognitive perspective. Contributors apply the basic ideas of…

This paper examines a case study of family play therapy in Israel. The unique contributions of play therapy are evaluated including the therapy's accessibility to young children, its richness and flexibility, its exposure of covert patterns, its wealth of therapeutic means, and its therapeutic economy. The systematization of the therapy attempts…

This volume presents a collection of practical strategies for enhancing communication between couples and families. Experts in the field outline proven techniques from cognitive and constructivist/constructionist frameworks, structural and strategic orientations, and couple/family play therapy. Chapters are: (1) "Letter for a Change: Using Letter…