Play Therapy with Children in Crisis: Individual, Group, and Family Treatment. - book review

Adolescence, Winter, 2001

WEBB, Nancy Boyd (Ed.).

Play Therapy with Children in Crisis: Individual, Group, and Family Treatment (2nd ed.). New York: The Guilford Press, 1999. 506pp. $45.00 (h).

Completely revised and updated, the second edition of this casebook and text focuses on the treatment of children who have experienced crises resulting from psychological, physical, or environmental events. Children do not have the developed coping mechanisms of adults, and they often lack adequate familial support to deal with such stressful situations as parental death or divorce, abuse and neglect, HIV/AIDS in the family, community violence, tragic accidents, and war. Compounding the problem, children may be unable to communicate their needs verbally to a mental health worker. Practitioners increasingly recognize the usefulness of nonverbal communication methods, such as play therapy, in engaging and helping these young children. Structured for optimal use as a teaching and training text, the book presents in-depth case studies in a two-column format that gives the reader not only the content of the therapy sessions, but also the clinician's accompanying thoughts and rationale for intervention. Chapters al so include up-to-date literature reviews, case summaries, assessment and treatment plans, and thoughtful discussion questions. A variety of play therapy methods are demonstrated, including art, storytelling, doll play, group art activities, and games. The second edition covers a broader variety of situations with which some children may have to contend, including the effects of extreme violence resulting from wars or terrorist attacks. A special feature of this edition is follow-up reports of six teenagers originally seen in therapy as children eight or more years before. Rarely seen in the clinical literature, this type of longitudinal perspective encourages a review of the benefits and limitations of early intervention, and clearly illustrates the multiple factors that influence children's growth and development. The book now also covers methods for preventing the secondaiy traumatization of therapists. Another new feature is the inclusion of four chapters showing how group treatment can be utilized either as a primary intervention or in conjunction with individual and family treatment.