Table Of Content

P L A Y C D HILD EVELOPMENT IN PSYCHOTHERAPY AND Toward Empirically Supported Practice S W. R ANDRA USS Play in Child Development and Psychotherapy Toward Empirically Supported Practice Irving B. Weiner, Advisory Editor (cid:1) Play in Child Development and Psychotherapy Toward Empirically Supported Practice Sandra W. Russ Case Western Reserve University LAWRENCE ERLBAUM ASSOCIATES, PUBLISHERS 2004 Mahwah, New Jersey London Copyright © 2004 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinany form,byphotostat,microform,retrievalsystem,oranyothermeans, without prior written permission of the publisher. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers 10 Industrial Avenue Mahwah, New Jersey 07430 Cover design by KathrynHoughtalingLacey Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Russ, Sandra Walker. Play in child development and psychotherapy : toward empirically supported practice / Sandra W. Russ. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8058-3065-0 (cloth :alk. paper) 1. Play therapy. 2. Play—Psychological aspects. I. Title. RC505.P6 R876 2003 618.92’891653—dc21 2002035397 CIP BookspublishedbyLawrenceErlbaumAssociatesareprintedonacid- free paper, and their bindings are chosen for strength and durability. Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 In memory of my parents, Edith and Wilson Walker, who provided me the opportunity to play Contents Preface ix 1 Fundamental Play Processes 1 2 The Role of Play in the Development of Adaptive 8 Abilities 3 The Role of Play in Therapy: The Theories 34 4 The Role of Play in Therapy: The Research 66 5 The Affect in Play Scale 79 6 Current Trends in the Therapeutic Uses of Play 115 7 Teaching Children to Play 125 8 Future Directions in Research and Practice 133 Appendix: Affect in Play Scale 145 References 156 Author Index 173 Subject Index 179 vii Preface Children’s pretend play is a complex phenomenon. Pretend play in- volvesamyriadofprocessesandbehaviorsthatchangefrommomentto moment.Doespretendplayhaveimportantfunctionsinchilddevelop- ment,orisitsimplysomethingchildrenengageintopassthetime—al- beit while having fun? This is a central question in the field of child psychologytoday.Itisanespeciallyimportantquestionforchildthera- pists. Practitioners of a variety of theoretical persuasions use play in workingwithchildren.Asof1992,playinsomeformwasusedinchild therapybyamajorityofclinicians,accordingtoKoocherandD’Angelo (1992), who stated that “play-oriented therapy remains the dominant andmostenduringapproachtochildtreatment...practicedbyclinicians (p.458).Manytherapistsuseplaybecauseitisanaturalactivityandform ofcommunicationofyoungchildren.Also,differenttheoreticalschools stresstheimportanceofpretendplayinthetherapyprocess.Psychoana- lytic, psychodynamic, client-centered (nondirective) approaches, and cognitive-behavioralapproachesaswell,haveproposedthatchangeoc- cursinthechildthroughtheprocessofplay. Whatistheevidenceforthisproposition?Themovementtowardem- piricallysupportedtreatmentsisgainingincreasingmomentum.Itiscru- cialforthedevelopmentofscientificprinciplesofbehaviorchange.Also, themanagedcaresystemwillbelookingtoresearchforguidanceaboutits policies.Ifplayistocontinuetobeusedasamajortreatmentmodality,its effectivenessmustbeempiricallydemonstrated. Themainthesisofthisbookisthatplayhasanimportantroleinchild development and is a major vehicle for change in child psychotherapy. Twoextensivebodiesofresearchliteratureaddressthefunctionsofplay, one focusing on pretend play and child development, one on the use of playinpsychotherapy.Thesetwoliteraturesneedtobeintegrated.Playis involvedinthedevelopmentofmanycognitive,affective,andpersonality processesthatareimportantforadaptivefunctioninginchildren.Often, thosewhodiscusstheeffectivenessofplayintherapyignoretheaccumu- latingknowledgebaseindevelopmentalpsychology.Wehavenotdrawn ix