Gary Landreth's 'Play Therapy: The Art of the Relationship'

Children are not miniature adults. "Unlike adults, whose natural medium of communication is verbalization, the natural medium of communication for children is play and activity" (9).

Play has many functions: it's a means by which children learn about the world; it allows children to organize their experiences; it allows them to feel that they're in control; it allows them to change "what may be unmanageable in reality to manageable situations through symbolic representation"; "[f]eelings and attitudes that may be too threatening for the child to express directly can be safely projected through self-chosen toys" (10-15). Also: "Developmentally they lack the cognitive, verbal facility to express what they feel, and emotionally they are not able to focus on the intensity of what they feel in a manner that can be expressed adequately in a verbal exchange...[C]hildren are not developmentally able to engage fully in abstract reasoning or thinking until approximately age 11. Words are made up of symbols, and symbols are abstractions" (15).

"Play is a voluntary, intrinsically motivated activity involving flexibility of choice in determining how an item is used. No extrinsic goal exists. The process of play is enjoyed, and the end product is less important" (16). Play therapy is "a dynamic interpersonal relationship b/t a child...and a therapist trained in play therapy procedures who provides selected play materials and 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."

"Children may have considerable difficulty in trying to tell what they feel or how they have been affected by what they have experienced; but, if permitted, in the presence of a caring, sensitive, and empathic adult, they will show what they feel through the toys and materials they choose, what they do with and to the materials, and the story acted out" (17).

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CCPT holds that children should be allowed to direct their own growth (59). The therapist "believes deeply in and trust explicitly the inner person of the child. Tf, the play therapist's objective is to relate to the child in ways that will release the child's inner-directional, constructive, forward-moving, creative, self-healing power" (60). The therapist is "concerned w/ developing the kind of relationship that facilitates inner emotional growth and children's belief in themselves."

"I trust the child to lead our experience together to where the child needs to be. I am not wise enough to know where a child should be in our relationship, or what a child should do. I trust the child's intuitive inner direction to take the experience to where the child needs to be" (84). E.g., only the child might not about sexual abuse. The child "selects the theme, content, and process of the play. The child chooses which toys to play with and sets the pace. The therapist d/n make decisions for the child, no matter how insignificant the decision may seem to be."

Therapeutic conditions for growth:

• Genuineness (Being Real)
• Nonpossessive Warmth (Warm Caring and Acceptance) (unconditional positive regard)
• Empathy (Sensitive Understanding) -- trying to really understand child

Axline's eight principles of child-centered therapy:

1. The therapist must develop a warm, friendly relationship with the child, in which good rapport is established as soon as possible.
2. The therapist accepts the child exactly as he is.
3. The therapist establishes a feeling a permissiveness in the relationship so that the child feels free to express his feelings completely.
4. The therapist is alert to recognize the feelings the child is expressing and reflects those feelings back to him in such a manner that he gains insight into his behavior.
5. The therapist maintains a deep respect for the child’s ability to solve his own problems if given an opportunity to do so. The responsibility to make choices and institute change is the child’s.
6. The therapist does not attempt to direct the child’s actions or conversation in any manner. The child leads the way; the therapist follows.
7. The therapist does not attempt to hurry the therapy along. It is a gradual process and is recognized as such by the therapist.
8. The therapist establishes only those limitations that are necessary to anchor the therapy to the world of reality and to make the child aware of his responsibility in the relationship.
9. The therapist-child relationship is the key to the child's growth (86). 

What children learn in play therapy:

• To respect themselves. "The play therapist maintains and communicates a constant regard and respect for children, regardless of their behavior." Children "internalize the respect and thus learn to respect themselves" (90).
• That their feelings are acceptable. B/c the therapist accepts the child's feelings, even intense ones, children learn that their feelings are acceptable.
• To express their feelings responsibly. Once children express their feelings, "they lose their intensity and can more easily be controlled appropriately. As children learn to responsibly control their feelings, they are no longer controlled by those feelings." 
• To assume responsibility for themselves. B/c the therapist allows children to do things for themselves.
• To be creative and resourceful in solving problems. 
• Self-control and self-direction. B/c the therapist allows the child to be in control.

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