Download Play Therapy with Abused Children, 2nd Edition by Ann Cattanach PDF

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If the play becomes a drama, then I might take a role if the child wishes. I might also share a story that might be congruent with the play of the PLAY THERAPY AS A HEALING PROCESS FOR ABUSED CHILDREN 53 child or as a way to deepen the relationship by the shared experience of telling and listening. So the therapist and child construct a space and a relationship together where the child can develop a personal and social identity by finding stories to tell about the self and the lived world of that self.

The psychic space between child and therapist represents the transitional space described by Winnicott as the potential space between child and mother figure. The sequence of relationships in this space is described by Winnicott. First, baby and object are merged with one another. The baby’s view of the object is subjective and the mother is oriented towards making actual what the baby is ready to find. Second, the object is repudiated, re-accepted, and perceived objectively. This complex process is dependent on there being a mother or mother-figure prepared to join in and give back what is handed out.

For example, a chimpanzee manipulating a stick in ways which do not necessarily reinforce the use of the stick to probe for objects. Once the chimpanzee has ‘learned’ to use the stick to probe for food then he soon tries using it to dig, poke other animals and so on. He also suggests that when animals begin to play, they signal their intent with, for example, a ‘galumphing gait’ and as play begins the animal can test limits with safety because the group is aware that play has begun. Child Development Theories and Play The need to find meaning for play activities has continued in the research on play and this is expressed through interest in play and cognition and the value of play as a means of social interaction.