Play Therapy

The value of play in the treatment of nervous disturbance is now generally recognised. Even in adult treatment there is play of a kind, though here the play is with ideas expressed mainly through words. For children the medium is less intellectualised, and play involves activity as well as speech. Concrete expression and experimentation are normal and necessary to the child, and provide therapy with a valuable instrument. In play, children can express ideas hardly realised by themselves, but clear to a competent observer. They can deal with phantasies which might otherwise prove overwhelming, and become the more free to meet real situations. The normal self-balancing and self-healing processes in the mind are restored, and harmonious intellectual development assured. Reassuring social contacts, the necessary complement of the child's relinquishing of the mother, are made possible, and the child's interests gradually extended. Play with an understanding companion both facilitates the solution of the child's problems and reassures him socially, so that stable development can be achieved. The play situation has a twofold significance which must be more closely considered. John daubs paste on the board and Colin spreads wet sand on the windowsills and along the skirting boards. Joyce smears paint on her fingers, her table and her chair. Arthur washes his hands incessantly, and Mary cries if her frock is splashed. That is one aspect of the situation, and here is the other. John speaks in whispers, rarely smiles, glances apprehensively at the worker while playing, and makes no response to the other children. Colin protests if other children play near him, calls frequently to the worker to look at him, chatters and laughs to himself. Joyce never talks spontaneously, answers only in whispers and plays alone in a corner. Arthur demands much help from the worker, takes material from the other children, but does not play with them, while Mary makes no advances, and in response to talk only smiles. Play therapy for groups must provide for both the individual and the social problems of the child. The children brought for treatment show various kinds of disturbed behaviour. Some of them are withdrawn from their actual surroundings, while others are boisterous, aggressive and violent. Some children have particular fears, while others suffer from more general anxiety. Some are delinquent, some have physical symptoms, and some have special learning disabilities. But in general, along with the existence of more specific …