Healing Power of Play: Working with Abused Children » (1st Edition)

Eliana Gil, PhD, is Director of Clinical Services for Childhelp, Inc., and works at the Childhelp Children’s Center in Fairfax, Virginia. Dr. Gil is a well-known lecturer, author, and clinician who has worked in child abuse prevention and treatment for over three decades. A registered play therapy supervisor, registered art therapist, and a licensed marriage, family, and child counselor, she has served on the Board of Directors of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children and the National Resource Center on Child Sexual Abuse, and is a former President of the Association for Play Therapy. She is the author of acclaimed books and video programs on child abuse, play therapy, and related topics. Bilingual and bicultural, Dr. Gil is originally from Guayaquil, Ecuador.

This book describes how therapists can both facilitate constructive play therapy and intervene in posttraumatic play to help children who have been traumatized by abuse or neglect achieve a positive resolution. Traditional techniques of play therapy are reviewed for their application to this population. Throughout, numerous therapeutic aids are described to enhance the child's capacity to communicate verbally or symbolically. To help clinicians translate theory into daily practice, the book presents six detailed clinical vignettes that offer step-by-step guidelines for assessment and intervention in different situations of abuse or neglect.

* The Abused Child: Treatment Issues.
* The Child Therapies: Application in Work with Abused Children.
* The Treatment of Abused Children.
CLINICAL EXAMPLES.
* Leroy: A Child Traumatized by Severe Parental Neglect.
* Johnny: A Child Traumatized by Sexual Abuse.
* Antony: A Child with Multiple Traumas.
* Gaby: A Child Traumatized by a Single Episode of Sexual Abuse.
* Laurie: A Neglected Child Traumatized by a Hospitalization.
* Sharlene: A Child Traumatized by Chronic Sexual Abuse.
* Special Issues.