The Handbook of Medical Play Therapy and Child Life brings together the voices and clinical experiences of dedicated clinical practitioners in the fields of play therapy and child life. This volume offers fresh insights and up to date research in the use of play with children, adolescents, and families in medical and healthcare settings. Chapters take a strength-based approach to clinical interventions across a wide range of health-related issues, including autism, trauma, routine medical care, pending surgeries both large and small, injury, immune deficiency, and more. Through its focus on the resiliency of the child, the power of play, and creative approaches to healing, this handbook makes visible the growing overlap and collaboration between the disciplines of play therapy and child life.

Exploring how practitioners make use of play’s developmental benefits and therapeutic healing properties to aid the child’s healthcare journey, this reflective book expands and enhances the knowledge base underlying the practice of play in hospitals. The work of health play specialists and child life specialists in hospitals in the UK and around the world requires a deep level of clinical knowledge, so that preparing children for procedures can be done with skill and precision. It builds on an understanding of both child development and the impact of traumatic experiences so that children’s deepest fears and biggest emotions can be faced without flinching. It also relies on an acceptance that play is the foundation of everything – the child’s safest, most natural space – and from this trust, strength and resilience can grow and be nurtured. This new edited text explores the breadth, depth and skills of these trained healthcare practitioners providing play for babies, children, young people and adults, and places the power of play squarely at the centre of most clinical settings. Its starting point of the theory that underpins practice is explored and developed through a combination of reflective essays, case study chapters from the UK and around the world, and the newly emerging use of play in diverse settings. Drawing on the collective work of over 30 play specialists, child life specialists, play service managers, lecturers and researchers, this book is unique in all it offers to paediatric practitioners and settings, in training and in practice. It is an important resource for healthcare play specialists, playworkers, children’s nurses, occupational therapists and more.

This book helps support developmentally sensitive nursing and allied health practice by integrating the therapeutic powers of play into child and adolescent health care service provision. It is designed to link play, child development, neuroscience, biopsychosocial and attachment theories with the biomedical model of health. Nurses and allied health professionals work with children aged between 0-18 years and with diverse childhood illnesses, injuries, diseases, disorders, and conditions, and are therefore in a prime position to understand and support children through potentially painful and traumatic health care experiences. Understanding of the role of play and the application of the therapeutic powers of play in communicating with children and families has the potential to significantly optimise paediatric care. The theory and play based strategies, tools and techniques presented in this book assist nurses and health care professionals to engage with children in an age-appropriate manner and ‘speak’ with children through their natural language of play, to enhance comprehension, coping, resiliency, and healing. Play is recognised as a sequentially developing ability and can be aligned with the child’s age and stage of life. Play based approaches can be placed on a continuum from fully child led or non-directive play to adult facilitated educative play. Medical information can be tailored according to the various points along this continuum to inform clinical reasoning and to help children prepare for procedures, recover from medical interventions and / or make sense of their diagnosis. Whilst this book is directed at nurses and allied health professionals who work with children and their families, it may also be a valuable resource for medical and other professionals in community or educational settings to work systemically as a team. The book takes the reader on a journey to illustrate various professional and therapeutic roles in how to playfully engage children through a range of case vignettes.

Here is a comprehensive guide to of the the most effective anddynamic childhood intervention available to counselors, therapists,teachers, psychologists, and anyone who works with kids. Thishands-on resource applies play therapy theory to a wide variety ofgroup settings and gives therapists insight into treating specialpopulations including sibling groups, children who have beenabused, and children who have experienced the loss of a loved one.Enter a child's world of communication with twenty-five of thecountry's leading play therapy experts as they guide you through amyriad of group play therapy approaches, issues, and techniques.The Handbook of Group Play Therapy gives therapists the tools theyneed to help children as they experience the exhilaration, fear,joy, and frustration in discovering the world around them as theylearn about themselves and others. "The authors have pinpointed a dynamic and developing area oftherapeutic play. . . . a very valuable resource in working withchildren."-Robert C. Berg, professor and assistant chair,Department of Counseling, Development, and Higher Education,University of North Texas

Hospitalization can cause short-term to long-term issues to children’s biopsychosocial health. Play strategies have played a key role in preventing hospitalization trauma. Properly trained play specialists provide children with structured play activities that have proven to be effective in diminishing anxiety, depression, and negative emotions among in-patient children and their parents. These techniques are beneficial to ameliorating children’s and parents’ coping strategies and treatment compliance. However, discrepancies among countries’ healthcare systems in recognizing the value of play highlights the need for major awareness in the field. The Handbook of Research on Play Specialism Strategies to Prevent Pediatric Hospitalization Trauma spreads knowledge about the potential of playing to protect and increase children's health during hospitalization. The book focuses on play strategies counteracting pediatric patients’ trauma, anxiety, depression, and other biopsychosocial negative consequences. It discusses the rights of hospitalized children and the strengths of the play specialism approach. Covering topics such as chronically ill children, pediatric oncology, and culturally sustaining practices, this premier reference source is an excellent resource for child psychologists, psychotherapists, neuroscientists, pedagogists, psychiatrists, nurses, physicians, health sociologists, pediatricians, play specialists, students and faculty of higher education, librarians, researchers, and academicians.

While the genesis of the Certified Child Life Specialists (CCLS) is in the healthcare setting, the theory and practice of child life has been successfully applied to environments outside of the healthcare field. The interest and pursuit of child life roles in non-healthcare settings have increasingly become of interest to students and professionals; however, further study is required to understand the various challenges and opportunities. The Role of Child Life Specialists in Community Settings serves as an innovative guide for those interested in pursuing child life in diverse settings with the education and credentials received through their child life certification and addresses issues the field currently faces related to saturation of the field, burn out, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. The book also serves as a catalyst to push the profession as a whole beyond its current healthcare boundaries. Covering topics such as grief, addiction, disaster relief, and family wellbeing, this major reference work is ideal for psychologists, medical professionals, nurses, policymakers, government officials, researchers, scholars, academicians, practitioners, instructors, and students.

Child life is a profession that draws on the insights of history, sociology, anthropology and psychology to serve children and families in many critical stress points in their lives, but especially when they are ill, injured or disabled and encounter the hosts of caregivers and institutions that collaborate to make them well. Children and their families can become overwhelmed by the task of understanding and navigating the healthcare environment and continue to face challenges through their daily encounters. It is the job of child life professionals to provide care and guidance in these negotiations to serve as culture brokers, interpreters of the healthcare apparatus to family and child and the child to medical professionals. Despite the best efforts to provide quality, sensitive psychosocial care to children and their families, they remain vulnerable to lingering aftereffects. The goal of this revised edition is to help prepare child life specialists to deliver the highest level of care to children and families in the context of these changing realities. Each chapter has been substantially revised and two new chapters have been added. This book will be a valuable resource for not only child life specialists but also nurses, occupational and recreational therapists, social workers and other hospital personnel.

This book combines empirical support, clinical acumen, and practical recommendations in a comprehensive manner to examine creative augmentations to the robust cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) model. It discusses augmentations that are supported by research and practice and are also clinical-friendly tools. Each chapter briefly summarizes research findings, offers parsimonious explanations of theoretical concepts and principles, presents vivid descriptions of therapeutic procedures, and describes rich case illustrations. The book addresses the use of humor in CBT with youth, playful applications of CBT, applications of improvisational theatre in CBT and integrating superheroes into CBT. Key areas of coverage include: Building stronger, more flexible, and enduring alliances with children and adolescents to improve treatment retention and impact. Using humor and irreverent communication in dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) to enhance outcomes with adolescents. Developing rapport between medical and psychosocial team members to alleviate stress during pediatric medical procedures and as an adjunct to therapeutic interventions. Cognitive behavioral play therapy (CBPT) with young children. Family-focused CBT for pediatric OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder). Cognitive Behavioral Psychodrama Group Therapy (CBPGT) with youth. This unique and compelling volume is an authoritative resource for researchers, professors, clinicians, therapists and other professionals as well as graduate students in developmental psychology, pediatrics, social work, child and adolescent psychiatry, and nursing.

Play Therapy and Telemental Health gives clinicians the tools they need to bring their therapy sessions online. Chapters present the fundamentals of play therapy and telemental health therapy and introduce play therapists to a variety of special populations and interventions specific to telemental health. Expert contributors discuss using a wide variety of telehealth interventions— including Virtual Sandtray®©, nature play, and EMDR —with children affected by autism, trauma, and more. Readers will learn how the fundamentals of play therapy can be expanded to provide effective treatment in web-based sessions. This is a vital guide for any clinician working in play therapy in the 21st century.

A complete, comprehensive play therapy resource for mental health professionals Handbook of Play Therapy is the one-stop resource for play therapists with coverage of all major aspects written by experts in the field. This edition consolidates the coverage of both previous volumes into one book, updated to reflect the newest findings and practices of the field. Useful for new and experienced practitioners alike, this guide provides a comprehensive introduction and overview of play therapy including, theory and technique, special populations, nontraditional settings, professional and contemporary issues. Edited by the founders of the field, each chapter is written by well-known and respected academics and practitioners in each topic area and includes research, assessment, strategies, and clinical application. This guide covers all areas required for credentialing from the Association for Play Therapy, making it uniquely qualified as the one resource for certification preparation. Learn the core theories and techniques of play therapy Apply play therapy to special populations and in nontraditional settings Understand the history and emerging issues in the field Explore the research and evidence base, clinical applications, and more Psychologists, counselors, marriage and family therapists, social workers, and psychiatric nurses regularly utilize play therapy techniques to facilitate more productive sessions and promote better outcomes for patients. Handbook of Play Therapy provides the deep, practical understanding needed to incorporate these techniques into practice.