Play Therapy with Abused Children

A study of the uses of play therapy as a way of helping abused children heal their distress and make sense of their experiences through expanding their own creativity in play. The author shows that certain areas of the child's experience can only be expressed though play.

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This book explores the uses of play therapy with abused children as a way of helping them to heal their distress and make sense of their experiences by expanding their own creativity in play. Ways of starting play therapy with abused children are described and the author explains how the child can use the process for healing. Models of intervention are described which meet the particular needs of the child and the work setting of the therapist; for example, short and medium term interventions, individual/group and sibling work. There are case histories of children who have experienced physical, emotional and sexual abuse which show how play therapy was used to help them come to terms with the past and prepare for the future. This book should be of use to all professionals who work with abused children, especially social workers, teachers and clinical physchologists who need to listen to children and validate their experiences.