Play Therapy with Abused Children »

Ann Cattanach MSc, CSTD, RDTh, is Course Director, Play Therapy at Roehampton Institute and is co-founder of The Play Therapy Trust. She helped to develop the Dramatherapy course at the Akademie de Kopese Hof, Nijmegen, Netherlands and supervises the Play Therapy course in Athens run by the Centre for Dramatherapy, Theatre and Therapy. She works as a therapist for Harrow NHS Community Trust and acts as a Child Care Consultant/Therapist for several Social Service departments in London. She is the author of several books, including Play Therapy with Abused Children published in 1992 by Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

This book explores the uses of play therapy with abused children as a way of helping them to heal their distress and make sense of their experiences through expanding their own creativity in play. It introduces the concept that play is a developmental activity through which children explore their identity in relation to others. Children use multiple media to express themselves in play, including their own bodies, symbolic objects, and a variety of role-play. The author shows that play is a creative process and that certain areas of the child's experience can only be communicated through play.

Ways of starting play therapy with abused children are described and the author explains how the child can use the process for healing. Models of intervention are described which meet the particular needs of the child and the work setting of the therapist; for example, short and medium term interventions, individual/group and sibling work. There are case histories of children who have experienced physical, emotional and sexual abuse which show how play therapy was used to help them come to terms with the past and prepare for the future.

The Rights of Children and the Abused Child     13
The Rights of Children     14
New Approaches to the Care and Support of Children in the United Kingdom     18
Every Child Matters: Change for Children     18
Protecting Children and Young People: The Charter     21
The Abused Child is the Invisible Child     22
Definitions of Child Abuse     24
The Trauma of Abuse     26
The Effects of Abuse on the Child's Future Development     28
The Effects of Sexual Abuse on Children     32
Transition from Victim to Abuser     33
Play Therapy as a Healing Process for Abused Children     35
The Meaning of Play     35
What is Play?     35
Play as a Cultural Phenomenon     36
History of the Study of Play     37
Child Development Theories and Play     39
Representing the Social World in Play     41
Play and Dramatic Play     42
Playing with Children     44
Children Playing Together     45
Play as Therapy     45
Non-Directive Play Therapy     48
Cognitive-Behavioural Play Therapy     50
Prescriptive Play Therapy     50
Play and Healing for Abused Children     51
Starting Play Therapy: Settings, Materials, Boundaries     55
Play Therapy to Heal the Hurt Child     55
The Therapist     56
Supervision     56
Assessing the Need for Therapy     58
Timing the Intervention     59
Information about the Child     59
Investigations and Therapy     60
Starting Play Therapy     61
Finding a Safe Place for the Child     62
Material for Play     63
Play with Toys     76
The Use of Toys and Play Materials in Play Therapy across Cultures     76
The Play Therapy Process for the Abused Child     81
The Play Therapy Process for the Abused Child     81
The Role of the Therapist     82
Preparation for Play     83
Starting Play     85
In the Middle Lies the Monster     90
Am I a Monster?     93
Losing the Monster     100
The Final Stage of Play     101
Becoming Visible     102
Play Therapy with Physically Abused Children     107
Helping the Physically Hurt Child through Play     122
The Emotionally Abused Child      123
Emotional Abuse     123
The Sessions     129
The Sexually Abused Child     143
The Difficulties of Young Children     147
Children with Learning Difficulties     150
Sexually Abused Boys     152
Getting Rid of the Monster: Ways of Coping     161
The Therapist's Journey     167
References     169
Books for Children     173
Subject Index     183
Author Index     187