ABSTRACT
In family therapy, the therapist's task is to provide a helpful environment in which the whole family can participate and which it can shape according to its unique expressions of need, thought and feeling. But it is understandable that family therapists trained only to work with adults and adolescents might be reluctant to include younger children in family therapy. Furthermore, references to working with young children in family therapy in the literature are few and far between. The family therapist needs an office big enough to allow for six to eight seats and floor or table space to play on. The child expresses ideas and feelings symbolically in the safety of displacement onto the toy characters or general play media. The therapist becomes aware of feelings and reactions to the family group. In summary, comfort with play is an extension of the therapist’s holding capacity.
