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.

This highly practical book presents current developments in play therapy, including innovative applications for particular problems and populations. Contributors first discuss the latest ideas and techniques emerging from object relations, experiential, dynamic, and narrative perspectives. Next, research evaluating the effectiveness of play interventions is reviewed in detail. The book's third and largest section demonstrates creative approaches for helping children deal with a variety of adverse circumstances: homelessness, family problems, sexual abuse, social aggression, natural disasters, and more. Throughout, rich case illustrations enhance the book's utility for clinicians.

This acclaimed work describes a range of counseling and therapy approaches for children who have experienced loss. Practitioners and students are given practical strategies for helping preschoolers through adolescents cope with different forms of bereavement, including death in the family, school, and community. Grounded in research on child therapy, bereavement, trauma, and child development, the volume includes rich case presentations and clearly explains the principles that guide interventions. Eleven reproducible assessment tools and handouts can also be downloaded and printed in a convenient 8 1/2" x 11" size.

This widely used practitioner resource and course text, now significantly revised, is considered the most comprehensive guide to working with children who have experienced major losses, family upheavals, violence in the school or community, and other traumatic events. Leading experts present a range of play and creative arts therapy techniques in chapters organized around in-depth case examples. Informed by the latest knowledge on crisis intervention and trauma, the fourth edition encompasses work with adolescents as well as younger children. Each chapter concludes with instructive questions for study or reflection. New to This Edition *Expanded age range: now includes expressive therapy approaches for adolescents. *More attention to traumatic stress reactions and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); several chapters address complex trauma. *Extensively revised with the latest theory, practices, and research; many new authors. *Additional topics: parental substance abuse, group work with adolescents, chronic medical conditions, animal-assisted play therapy and courtroom testimony, and more.

"This book aims to provide professionals and clinicians-in-training with the latest forms of treatment for children and adolescents who have been impacted by crises and trauma. The various treatment options presented here include approaches that focus on the individual as well as many that include a parent in conjoint or filial therapy, and others that employ a family treatment model. Many chapters in this book demonstrate the use of a variety of creative methods with young people who have suffered traumatic experiences such as sexual abuse, bullying, immigration, natural disasters, and witnessing violence"--

Rich with case material and artwork samples, this volume demonstrates a range of creative approaches for facilitating children's emotional reparation and recovery from trauma. Contributors include experienced practitioners of play, art, music, movement and drama therapies, bibliotherapy, and integrative therapies, who describe step-by-step strategies for working with individual children, families, and groups. The case-based format makes the book especially practical and user-friendly. Specific types of stressful experiences addressed include parental loss, child abuse, accidents, family violence, bullying, and mass trauma. Broader approaches to promoting resilience and preventing posttraumatic problems in children at risk are also presented.

In Group Filial Therapy (GFT), therapists train parents to conduct play sessions with their own children to help meet children's therapeutic needs, and to transfer appropriate skills to family life. Based on parents' application of Child-Centred Play Therapy, taught and supervised by filial therapists, this evidence-based method is highly effective for working with families from diverse backgrounds and locations. This book provides an accessible guide to the theory and practice of GFT, and for the first time offers step-by-step guidelines for implementing the GFT program developed by Dr Guerney, the co-creator of Filial Therapy. Important practical considerations are addressed by Dr Guerney and Dr Ryan, such as how to determine the composition of groups and the duration of programs, and how to conduct Filial Therapy intakes. The facilitative attitudes and skills needed to be an effective Filial Therapy group leader are also described, and comprehensive instructions for implementing Dr Guerney's 20-week model of GFT are provided. The book closes with examples of how the program may be adapted to meet the needs of special groups. Replete with examples and dialogues bringing to life the group process, this definitive guide will enable therapists already familiar with the method, as well as those wishing to learn it, to maximise the fulfilment of therapeutic goals for participating families. Practitioners in mental health, social services and counselling, as well as parenting experts, play and filial therapists and therapists in training will find that this book expands and enriches the services they can offer their clients.