ABSTRACT
Puppets can allow children and families "to participate in symbolic play that connects concrete experience to abstract thought". Puppet stories generate metaphors through which the therapeutic healing process begins. Puppets are helpful for an array of presenting problems in family therapy. Puppets are especially useful in cases of trauma and sexual abuse since family therapy will trigger these intense feelings and upsetting content. With puppets, what comes out in therapy can be projected onto something the child and family can control The story came to life as each person gave their puppet a personality, a purpose, and a role in the story. The other puppets looked around and started jumping, trying to get away from the snake. Family puppet therapy is an advancement of the interview technique, in which clinicians move beyond the assessment phase to conduct therapeutic interventions within the context of the family's metaphor.
