ABSTRACT

Play therapy is the name given to what is done in therapy with young children. The play is invaluable primarily because it provides the therapist a way to learn about children, both the individual child he is working with and children in general. There are certainly other benefits to the long-term form of play therapy—for example, the parents get a very clear sense that the therapist is involved with their child and takes the child very seriously. The therapist can draw attention to the child’s play, can encourage the parent to sit and observe it, can suggest new ways in which the parents can enter into the play which may help the child work through whatever conflicts are occurring. Therapists who work with couples often suggest that a rule be instituted that a fight can be interrupted by either side declaring time-out.