Play in Child Development and Psychotherapy: Toward Empirically Supported Practice (Lea's Personality and Clinical Psychology Series)

Child psychotherapy is in a state of transition. On the one hand, pretend play is a major tool of therapists who work with children. On the other, a mounting chorus of critics claims that play therapy lacks demonstrated treatment efficacy. These complaints are not invalid. Clinical research has only begun. Extensive studies by developmental researchers have, however, strongly supported the importance of play for children. Much knowledge is being accumulated about the ways in which play is involved in the development of cognitive, affective, and personality processes that are crucial for adaptive functioning. However, there has been a yawning gap between research findings and useful suggestions for practitioners. __Play in Child Development and Psychotherapy__ represents the first effort to bridge the gap and place play therapy on a firmer empirical foundation. Sandra Russ applies sophisticated contemporary understanding of the role of play in child development to the work of mental health professionals who are trying to design intervention and prevention programs that can be empirically evaluated. Never losing sight of the complex problems that face child therapists, she integrates clinical and developmental research and theory into a comprehensive, up-to-date review of current approaches to conceptualizing play and to doing both therapeutic play work with children and the assessment that necessarily precedes and accompanies it. "Child psychotherapy is in a state of transition. On one hand, pretend play is a major tool of therapists who work with children. On the other, a mounting chorus of critics claims that play therapy lacks demonstrated treatment efficacy. These complaints are not invalid. Clinical research has only begun. Extensive studies by developmental researchers have, however, strongly supported the importance of play for children. We are accumulating much knowledge about the ways in which play is involved in the development of cognitive, affective, and personality processes that are crucial for adaptive functioning. But there has been a yawning gap between research findings and useful suggestions for practitioners." "Play in Child Development and Psychotherapy represents the first effort to bridge the gap and place play therapy on a firmer empirical foundation. Sandra Russ applies our sophisticated contemporary understanding of the role of play in child development to the work of mental health professionals who are trying to design intervention and prevention programs that can be empirically evaluated. Never losing sight of the complex problems that face child therapists, she integrates clinical and developmental research and theory into a comprehensive, up-to-date review of current approaches to conceptualizing play and to doing both therapeutic play work with children and the assessment that necessarily precedes and accompanies it." "Clinicians, trainees, and students will welcome Russ's clear guidelines for empirically supported practice, researchers will appreciate her suggestions for new directions to explore."--Jacket

Child psychotherapy is in a state of transition. On the one hand, pretend play is a major tool of therapists who work with children. On the other, a mounting chorus of critics claims that play therapy lacks demonstrated treatment efficacy. These complaints are not invalid. Clinical research has only begun.

Extensive studies by developmental researchers have, however, strongly supported the importance of play for children. Much knowledge is being accumulated about the ways in which play is involved in the development of cognitive, affective, and personality processes that are crucial for adaptive functioning. However, there has been a yawning gap between research findings and useful suggestions for practitioners.

Play in Child Development and Psychotherapy represents the first effort to bridge the gap and place play therapy on a firmer empirical foundation. Sandra Russ applies sophisticated contemporary understanding of the role of play in child development to the work of mental health professionals who are trying to design intervention and prevention programs that can be empirically evaluated. Never losing sight of the complex problems that face child therapists, she integrates clinical and developmental research and theory into a comprehensive, up-to-date review of current approaches to conceptualizing play and to doing both therapeutic play work with children and the assessment that necessarily precedes and accompanies it.

Play in Child Development and Psychotherapy Toward Empirically Supported Practice......Page 3 Copyright......Page 6 Contents......Page 9 Preface......Page 11 1.Fundamental Play Processes......Page 15 2 .The Role of Play in the Development of Adaptive Abilities......Page 22 3.The Role of Play in Therapy: The Theories......Page 48 4.The Role of Play in Therapy: The Research......Page 80 5.The Affect in Play Scale......Page 93 6.Current Trends in the Therapeutic Uses of Play......Page 129 7.Teaching Children to Play......Page 139 8.Future Directions in Research and Practiceh......Page 147 Appendix: Affect in Play Scale*......Page 159 References......Page 171 Author Index......Page 187 Subject Index......Page 193 Planning in Intelligent Systems discusses the differences and similarities in the planning approaches of various scientific fields by analyzing generic planning characteristics that exist in all planning approaches. Each chapter, broken into practical sections, contains a short introduction, linking the contents of that chapter to the main ideas featured in preceding chapters, such as planning behavior in different situations, modeling of planning support systems, mathematical models for planning support, and planning in artificial intelligence. An effort to place play therapy on a firmer empirical foundation, this book applies a contemporary understanding of the role of play in child development to the work of mental health professionals trying to design intervention and prevention programmes that can be empirically evaluated I was sitting in the cafeteria at the San Diego airport, amidst the usual chaotic airport scene, when I noticed a little boy, about 6 or 7 years old, sitting at the table next to mine.