Play and the imagination: where pathological play may demand a more intensified response from the therapist

Introduction In Part II I gave examples of, and arguments for, the therapist’s attempts to enlarge meaning without feeling compelled to offer alternative – or ‘deeper’ – meanings. In this section, I argue for the existence of moments when the therapist needs to provide something more vitalizing and intensified – an insistence on meaning. In Chapter 1 I discussed the processes of reclamation (Alvarez, 1992), generation and demonstration (Reid, 1988) as well as the need for a firm response to addictive or perverse behaviour. Here I wish to discuss the issue of the degree of engagement of the therapist in the child’s play.