Child Centered Play Therapy

Play therapy is a form of therapy where children can’t act out their fantasies and express their feelings or experiences and are simply encouraged to do so through play, abetted by a therapist's interpretations.

play therapy experiences for children to help reduce anxiety and fear. Additionally, they can help

The paper topic is focused on how play therapy can help children develop their behavioral and emotional structures. The primary research question for the paper is Can Play Therapy help children with emotional and behavioral issues get better? The primary hypotheses for this paper are: If play therapy can help a child overcome his self-esteem issues, then it can help the child grow emotionally and if play therapy can help a child overcome his self-esteem issues, then it can help the child grow a strong behavioral structure. The paper is divided into an introduction which gives a brief background of the topic, literature review which focuses on the results of 10 recent studies with familiar topics, the methods section, and the results sections which provides the primary results of the study and the discussions section which illustrates the lessons learnt from conducting this study as well as the differences and limitations of the study alongside the new directions that similar researches in the future could look to explore.

10). According to Landreth (2012), “Play therapy… facilitates the development of a safe relationship for the child… to fully express and explore self (feelings, thoughts, experiences, and behaviors) through play, the child’s natural medium of communication, for optimal growth and development”

A study conducted on effect of play therapy on reducing behavioral problems of children with the oppositional defiant disorder. Multistage cluster sampling was selected. 40 children were randomly selected, according to their parents and teachers. Out of 40, 16 children showed the symptoms of ADHD. Play therapy reduced the severity of ADHD in experimental group. Children`s disobedience can be reduced by the play therapy. (Jafari.N

Children often face various mental health issues when they are growing up. These issues include anxiety, trauma, depression and now even autistic children. Treating young children of these conditions has been a great challenge over time. Therapy can help give children the opportunity to express their feelings through play. According to the Association for Play Therapy (2002), play therapy is a "systematic use of a theoretical model to establish an interpersonal process in which trained play therapists use the therapeutic powers of play to help clients prevent or resolve psychosocial difficulties and achieve optimal growth and development." Although various studies have been conducted in regards to play research, there is no link that has been given between play therapy and the success of an individual later in life.

Haslam, D., Harris, S. (2011). Integrating Play and Family Therapy Methods: A Survey of Play

According to a leading expert in Play Therapy, Landreth (2014) believes firmly that the focus of therapy needs to be on the child not on the client, and children are the best teachers for the

Using the historically noted context of the importance of play, many therapists have refined and structured this “natural language” and have been able to facilitate desirable change for a variety of issues. The rest of this paper aims at providing the reader with a proficient overview of play therapy. The benefits, history, credentials, inner workings, and role of the family will be examined. Classical cases, as well as individual case studies, and larger scale findings will be examined, and the role and credentials of the therapist outlined.

This model provides flexibility to a semi-structured concept to encourage creativity among counseling professionals. As a future Marriage and Family Therapist, I have a strong connection with using theories encompassing the family dynamics and culture. As a proponent of Play Therapy interventions, I enjoy teaching clients emotion regulation and relaxation techniques through creative activities in the best interest of the client. Furthermore, conjoining parent-child sessions not only provides growth of the child but unites the family and increases skill building for all individuals attending sessions. Conversely, unlike other trauma models, TF-CBT provides clients with multiple phases of cognitive coping and processing to explore and correct negative distortions through building confidence and skills. Teaching the child and parent’s relaxation breathing, effective emotion expression, and cognitive coping skills prepare the family for modules deemed difficult because sharing the traumatic experience involves painful emotions. Consequently, processing the child’s trauma nearing the end of treatment allows the counselor and family to build a strong therapeutic relationship in multiple sessions prior to the trauma narrative and processing the traumatic experience. This trauma model provides hope for traumatized individuals to take back the

Case studies have proven that therapist who counsel children and adolescents using play therapy experience counter-transference at alarming rates when compared to those who use psychotherapy to treat adults (Gil & Rubin, 2005). During therapy sessions with children and adolescents, the therapist may not be aware of his or her personal biases and unresolved emotional needs, which may result in inappropriate responses or behaviors by the therapist.

Person-Centered Theory stands out amongst the multitude of theories developed to help improve the lives of individuals. Carl Rogers was the pioneer of Person-Centered Theory, which was the basis for Virginia Axline’s development of Child-Centered Play Therapy. Immediately, I felt a connection as I began learning about the principles of Person-Centered Theory. The introduction to this theory led me to discover the work of Virginia Axline. My interest in counseling children was reinforced by the fundamental elements of play therapy. Further, the story of Dibs engendered hope and enthusiasm for the possibility that this could be the theory from which I work.

The setting in which my personal theory of therapy will take place is within an education school setting. Current research has claimed that utilizing APT is helpful in decreasing concerning behaviour within elementary students (Kottman and Ashby, 2015). In developing my personalized therapeutic orientation, an IPT approach was established, focusing on both non-directive and directive play therapy to support the complex needs of clients (Gil, Konrath, Shaw, Goldin, & McTaggart Bryan, 2015). This is helpful to meet the needs of a varying population of clients with differing needs and abilities within a school setting. This is highlighted as helpful for this population by Gil, Konrath, Shaw, Goldin, & McTaggart Bryan (2015) indicating that child-centered

In the selected case study, The mode of therapeutic intervention will take the Gestalt Play Therapy focus. The interaction between Jacob and I will be an open dialogue with straightforward caring, warmth, acceptance, and self-responsibility that specifically focuses on inclusion, with me fully present in the experience of Jacob, where I will not judge, analyze, or interpret what is observed. My presence refers to expressing observations, preferences, feelings, personal experience, and thoughts to Jacob. Commitment to dialogue will present the opportunity to encourage a sense of connection between Jacob and me. Our dialogue will be active and nonverbal or verbal. It can be any modality that expresses and moves

The primary aim of the gestalt play therapist is to help children become aware of their unique process. The focus is on the experience of the process, what children do and how they do it, which they are, what they feel and what they want. Acceptance of this leads to the realization that they can personally make choices and experiment with new behavior. Gestalt play therapy focuses on children’s direct experience in the here and now. The therapist’s goal is to facilitate the client’s awareness of their process. (Corey, 2000)