Play Therapy with Children in Crisis, Third Edition: Individual, Group, and Family Treatment » (3rd Edition)

Nancy Boyd Webb, DSW, BCD, RPT-S, a leading authority on play therapy with children who have experienced loss and traumatic bereavement, is a board-certified diplomate in clinical social work and a registered play therapy supervisor. Dr. Webb is University Distinguished Professor of Social Work at the Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service, where she holds the James R. Dumpson Chair in Child Welfare Studies, and is the founder of Fordham's Post-Master's Certificate Program in Child and Adolescent Therapy. In addition to teaching and writing, she maintains a clinical practice and supervises and consults with schools and agencies. Dr. Webb lectures and conducts workshops throughout the United States and internationally on play therapy, trauma, and bereavement. She is the recipient of numerous honors, including the Clinical Practice Award of the Association for Death Education and Counseling and the designation of Distinguished Scholar by the National Academies of Practice in Social Work.

This practical casebook and widely adopted text presents effective, creative approaches to helping children who have experienced such stressful situations as parental death or divorce, abuse and neglect, violence in the school or community, and natural disasters. While the book retains the focus on in-depth case studies that made prior editions so popular, 17 of the 21 chapters are entirely new, and all chapters reflect the latest knowledge on crisis intervention, trauma, and short-term play therapy. Timely new topics include the crisis of parental military deployment, the impact of Hurricane Katrina on families, immigration-related trauma, terrorism, and disrupted adoption.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer:Michael S. Goldsby, PhD(Zeno Corporation)
Description:This book offers effective play therapy approaches for children struggling with a range of crises in the family, school, and community. Through the use of case studies and expert contributors, the author explores issues involved in working with children who have experienced some of life's most stressful events including parental divorce, neglect, and violence.
Purpose:The purpose is to present a variety of play therapy methods to help practitioners more effectively treat children and their families dealing with anxiety resulting from crisis and trauma. It also presents a number of completely new variations on therapeutic interventions.
Audience:This book is clearly written for mental health practitioners across a broad spectrum of disciplines that are committed to helping children who have suffered stressful and traumatic life events, as well as for students taking graduate courses in social work and play therapy.
Features:In this third edition, the author uses the vast knowledge and clinical experience of seasoned experts in the field in order to inform readers about the particular issues inherent in this patient population. Pertinent case assessments and the use of various schools of therapeutic thought allow readers to better understand the practical application of the therapeutic techniques introduced throughout the book. Each chapter offers numerous follow-up study questions that challenge readers' understanding of the concepts.
Assessment:This is an extraordinary addition to the clinical literature. The scope, breadth, and depth of the book speak volumes about the clinical expertise of the author, who is an undisputed expert in the field of play therapy. In this groundbreaking third edition, she delivers a well organized, comprehensive book that offers traditional as well as up-to-date knowledge on play therapy methods. This much-needed resource is a timely addition to the professional literature.

I. Theoretical Overview

1. The Family and Community Context of Children Facing Crisis or Trauma, Nancy Boyd Webb

2. Assessment of the Child Following Crisis: The Challenge of Differential Diagnosis, Kathleen Nader

3. Crisis Intervention Play Therapy with Children, Nancy Boyd Webb

II. Crises in the Family

4. Child Exposure to Parental Violence: Case of Amanda, Age 4, Maxine Weinreb and Betsy McAlister Groves

5. Parental Abuse and Subsequent Foster Home Placement, Marilyn B. Benoit

6. Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Child Sexual Abuse and Exposure to Domestic Violence: Case of Mary, Age 6, Felicia Neubauer, Esther Deblinger, and Karin Sieger

7. The Enduring Crisis of Divorce for Children and Their Parents, Judith P. Siegel

8. The Crisis of Adoption Disruption and Dissolution, Pamela S. Bruning

9. After a Parent’s Death: Group, Family, and Individual Therapy to Help Children, Donna L. Schuurman and Jana DeCristofaro

10. Living Beyond the Crisis of Childhood Cancer, Robin F. Goodman

11. The Crisis of Parental Deployment in Military Service, Joseph R. Herzog and R. Blaine Everson

III. School-Based Crisis Intervention

12. New Approaches to Preventing Peer Abuse among Children, Elizabeth K. Englander and Christine Lawson

13. The Crisis of Deaths in Schools: Interventions with Students, Parents, and Teachers, Roxia B. Bullock

14. Helping Forgotten Victims: Using Activity Groups with Children Who Witness Violence, Danielle Nisivoccia and Maxine Lynn

15. School-Based Play Therapy and Solution-Oriented Brief Counseling for Children in Crisis: Case of Melinda, Age 6, Suzanne C. Griffith

IV. Crises in the Community and World

16. International Interventions and Challenges Following the Crisis of Natural Disasters, Jennifer Baggerly

17. The Crisis of Family Separation Following Traumatic Mass Destruction: Jungian Analytical Play Therapy in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Eric J. Green

18. Sudden Death of a Parent in a Terrorist Attack: Crisis Intervention Conjoint Play Therapy with a Preschool Boy and His Mother, Nancy Boyd Webb

19. Multiple Traumas of Undocumented Immigrants--Crisis Reenactment Play Therapy: Case of Ximena, Age 12, Rowena Fong and Ilze Earner

20. Brief Narrative Play Therapy with Refugees, Ann Cattanach

V. Support for Therapists

21. Helping the Helpers: Guidelines to Prevent Vicarious Traumatization of Play Therapists Working with Traumatized Children, Katherine Ryan and Maddy Cunningham

Appendix. Play Therapy Resources