ABSTRACT
Child-centred play therapy is a developmentally sensitive approach that produces significant change across a variety of childhood emotional and behavioural problems. It has been used effectively with children with chronic illnesses and those undergoing prolonged medical procedures. Conventional talking therapies may be inappropriate for such children and those with an acquired brain injury (ABI) who may struggle to put their feelings into words. Play therapy gives them an opportunity to use other means of exploring and understanding these feelings, and to recover from difficult life experiences. This chapter features a practice example of play therapy with a 4-year-old child with ABI. It describes his creative pathway towards the production of a narrative, moving through non-verbal, sensorimotor and metaphorical expressions to verbalisation, evolving into the creation of a collaborative life story document, describing his traumatic experience within the wider context of his life. Consideration is given to the theoretical underpinnings of the approach and the process of change, drawing upon evidence from play therapy research and neuroscience.
