Advanced Play Therapy: Essential Conditions, Knowledge, and Skills for Child Practice

The purpose of this text is to present a resource to students and practitioners of play therapy that addresses topics beyond the training level. Current play therapy resources offer details on how to conduct play therapy, but are limited in addressing the challenges that develop when therapists conduct play therapy with real-life clients. It provides advanced knowledge on the three main areas of play, child development, and play therapy and integrate them to help the play therapist gain a holistic understanding of how play therapy works. The author also presents original operational functions for play therapy tasks that she has developed and refined during her years of experience to provide play therapists with step-by-step methods to use in their own practices. While the main theoretical focus is on Child-Centered Play Therapy, other approaches are briefly considered and offered as comparisons. Special topics covered include aggression in and out of the playroom, group play therapy, play therapy in schools and community settings, and research in play therapy. An accompanying CD includes a Child-Centered Play Therapy Treatment Manual and materials for use in supervision, self-reporting, and other tools the advanced play therapy student would find of use.

Dee C. Ray, PhD, LPC-S, NCC, RPT-S, is Associate Professor in the Counseling Program and Director of the Child and Family Resource Clinic at the University of North Texas.