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Caroliean Kores Rodesch, C ICSW.
Family Services
300 Crooks St.,
Green Bay, WI 54301
(920) 436-6800
Play therapy serves children ages two to twelve years. Where as play has the power to facilitate normal child development
it is also used to alleviate abnormal behavior. Play therapy can be defined as an interpersonal process where in a trained
therapist systematically applies the curative powers of play to help children resolve their difficulties. In the 1940's and
1950's play therapy was the major form of child therapy. As newer approaches appeared (behavior therapy, family therapy,
cognitive therapy), play therapy faded into the background. Like business cycles there are inevitable cycles of interest in
major schools of psychotherapy. According to Allport (1968) the average life of most theoretical concepts is about two
decades. It seems time then, for play therapy to be viewed as new and exciting again.
Play therapy has been recognized for a number of years as a treatment of choice for children who have experienced trauma.
Beverly James in her 1989 classic Treating Traumatized Children: New Insights and Creative Interventions borrows heavily
from play therapy and provides many resources for those working with children. The current surgeon generals report on the
mental health of children stresses the need for early intervention in child mental health at a time where decreasing numbers
of child therapists are available.
Characteristics- of Child Therapists: (assess your potential)
1. A genuine liking for children, not just one's own. The interaction need be benevolent and enjoyable.
2. Ability to self project into the child's world, feel like a child feels.
3. Ability to remember one's own childhood and having resolved one's own childhood pain, if it was present.
4. Enthusiasm, being excited about child therapy. Enjoying child materials and toys, not outgrowing the "wow" factor.
5. Inner warmth, childlike personality characteristics, In touch with own inner child
6. Strong parental instincts. Parenting experience helps, if it was positive and adds to credibility with parents.
7. Tolerance of frustration, noise, mess, angry children, angry parents and high child energy levels.
8. Flexibility, creativity and the self confidence to use it
9. Ability to set limits (or have your office trashed). Comfort with therapeutic failures. recognizing not everything can be
fixed, not all parents are competent and you can not make them so.
A belief that children matter and no effort to assist them is ever wasted. You mine a lot of ore to get gold.
Play Therapy Content: Stage one, Assess child themes in play. What themes are constant? Repetition. Can the therapist alter
the play or story line? If not this is the major theme. Stage Two. mastery and control, changing the roles, changing the
outcome, rewriting trauma Stage Three, learning and modeling, letting go of powerlessness, altering roles, teaching self
preservation skills. Stage Four, terminating and maintaining skills.
Common child themes in play therapy include: trauma, loss, abandonment, anxiety, safety issues, role confusion and
victimization.