ABSTRACT
The therapeutic touchstone is a play-based intervention used to facilitate the development of a therapeutic relationship with children and adolescents. The therapist presents a synopsis of significant elements in the child's life story to the child, and their parents or other supportive ally, using toys to facilitate building the play therapy relationship. While it is a focused, directive, narrative intervention, it is based on Rogerian principles. This chapter provides a rationale for this intervention and provides detailed guidelines for constructing and presenting these stories. It provides guidelines for preparing the story for children who present with issues that are not known to be related to difficult life events. The chapter considers children with adjustment issues; and, it addresses those with more complex histories. The chapter gives guidelines to a sample story for a six-year-old child, Josie, where there are no known difficult life events that may have contributed to the presenting problems.
