ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief review of what skills are needed to begin the process of effective play therapy. The basics of play therapy involve knowing how to set up a playroom and how to use basic skills to provide an environment that is therapeutically helpful to a child. The beginning play therapist must first master the basic skills of the process. Basic skills include setting up a playroom, selecting materials, and the use of effective nonverbal and verbal ways of being with the child. Before meeting a child, a play therapist prepares an environment in which the culture of childhood is addressed. This environment is the playroom. Materials for the playroom include toys, craft materials, paints, easel, puppet theater, sandbox, and child furniture. The use of nonverbal skills is heavily influenced by the genuineness and personhood of play therapist. Child-centered play therapy has benefited from offering distinct categories of verbal responses that guide the play therapist in therapeutic communication.
