ABSTRACT
The child is not an object for study but, rather, is a person to be known in the dynamics of the moment. The child standing before the therapist in the playroom is not a problem to be analyzed but a whole person to be related to and understood. Children, indeed all persons, have a longing to be heard, to be recognized as persons of value. For some children, it is as though they go through their lives day after day tapping out their message: “Hey, up there! Does anyone hear me? Does anyone see me? Does anyone care that no one seems to care about me? My heart aches. Do you see it? Do you care?” And day after day adults in their lives ignore these emotional messages. In the playroom, however, children are noticed, listened to, heard, responded to, and allowed to chart their own lives. This is a freeing process for children that allows them to draw on their inner resources for growth and self-direction. The permissiveness experienced in the playroom allows children to express the fullness of their personalities.
