Child psychotherapy is in a state of transition. On the one hand, pretend play is a major tool of therapists who work with children. On the other, a mounting chorus of critics claims that play therapy lacks demonstrated treatment efficacy. These complaints are not invalid. Clinical research has only begun. Extensive studies by developmental researchers have, however, strongly supported the importance of play for children. Much knowledge is being accumulated about the ways in which play is involved in the development of cognitive, affective, and personality processes that are crucial for adaptive functioning. However, there has been a yawning gap between research findings and useful suggestions for practitioners. Play in Child Development and Psychotherapy represents the first effort to bridge the gap and place play therapy on a firmer empirical foundation. Sandra Russ applies sophisticated contemporary understanding of the role of play in child development to the work of mental health professionals who are trying to design intervention and prevention programs that can be empirically evaluated. Never losing sight of the complex problems that face child therapists, she integrates clinical and developmental research and theory into a comprehensive, up-to-date review of current approaches to conceptualizing play and to doing both therapeutic play work with children and the assessment that necessarily precedes and accompanies it.

Both show unconscious content, defensive needs, and interpersonal and transferential relationships. As therapists, we can search for the same underlying dynamics we would look for in these other symbolic expressions.".

Play is a ubiquitous and universal aspect of early childhood. Although it may take different forms throughout development and across cultures, decades of research have found play to be related to important, positive outcomes. Play provides children with valuable cognitive, emotional, and interpersonal learning opportunities. It can act as a mode of communication for young children and allows them to practice ways of managing complex interpersonal interactions. Specific aspects of play, such as children’s creativity in pretend play, have been associated with resilience and coping. The significance of play in childhood has led to its frequent use in the assessment of child development and in the implementation of child and parent-child psychological and educational interventions. Historically, however, the validity and efficacy of these interventions have not been rigorously evaluated. Further, few assessment and intervention models have included parents, teachers, and other key caregivers, but have focused only on the child. This Research Topic will bring together the most current literature on the use of play in child assessment and intervention.

Anything to do with children's entertainment is a source of controversy: children's television programmes, musical preferences, and leisure activities are frequent sources of debate. Toys and play are often singled out for attention, particularly war toys, sex-typed toys, and video games with aggressive themes. Are these harmful to children? Are they addictive? Alternatively, can parents facilitate children's learning with educational toys? Toys, Play, and Child Development explores these and other questions. Parental attitudes and reactions towards war toys are described, as are the children's views themselves. Toys and play are shown to contribute to the development of language, imagination, and intellectual achievement and to be effective in child psychotherapy.

Play Therapy for Preschool Children is a comprehensive sourcebook of play interventions for preventing and resolving the most common disorders of children aged 3-5 years old.

Child psychotherapy is in a state of transition. On the one hand, pretend play is a major tool of therapists who work with children. On the other, a mounting chorus of critics claims that play therapy lacks demonstrated treatment efficacy. These complaints are not invalid. Clinical research has only begun. Extensive studies by developmental researchers have, however, strongly supported the importance of play for children. Much knowledge is being accumulated about the ways in which play is involved in the development of cognitive, affective, and personality processes that are crucial for adaptive functioning. However, there has been a yawning gap between research findings and useful suggestions for practitioners. Play in Child Development and Psychotherapy represents the first effort to bridge the gap and place play therapy on a firmer empirical foundation. Sandra Russ applies sophisticated contemporary understanding of the role of play in child development to the work of mental health professionals who are trying to design intervention and prevention programs that can be empirically evaluated. Never losing sight of the complex problems that face child therapists, she integrates clinical and developmental research and theory into a comprehensive, up-to-date review of current approaches to conceptualizing play and to doing both therapeutic play work with children and the assessment that necessarily precedes and accompanies it.

This book is a state-of-the-art look at where toys have come from and where they are likely to go in the years ahead. The focus is on the interplay between traditional toys and play, and toys and play that are mediated by or combined with digital technology. As well as covering the technical aspects of computer mediated play activities, the authors consider how technologically enhanced toys are currently used in traditional play and how they are woven into childrens' lives. The authors contrast their findings about technologically enhanced toys with knowledge of traditional toys and play. They link their studies of toys to goals in education and to entertainment and information transfer. This book will appeal to students, researchers, teachers, child care workers and more broadly the entertainment industry. It is appropriate for courses that deal with the specialized subject of toys and games, media studies, education and teacher training, and child development.