Handbook of Play Therapy, Advances and Innovations

In the decade since its publication, Handbook of Play Therapy has attained the status of a classic in the field. Writing in the most glowing terms, enthusiastic reviewers in North America and abroad hailed that book as "an excellent resource for workers in all disciplines concerned with children's mental health" (Contemporary Psychology).

Now, in this companion volume, editors Kevin O'Connor and Charles Schaefer continue the important work they began in their 1984 classic, bringing readers an in-depth look at state-of-the-art play therapy practices and principles. While it updates readers on significant advances in sand play diagnosis, theraplay, group play, and other well-known approaches, Volume Two also covers important adaptations of play therapy to client populations such as the elderly, and new applications of play therapeutic methods such as in the assessment of sexually abused children.

Featuring contributions by twenty leading authorities from psychology, social work, psychiatry, psychoanalysis, and other related disciplines, Handbook of Play Therapy, Volume two draws on clinical and research material previously scattered throughout the professional literature and organizes it into four main sections for easy reference:

• Theoretical approaches including Adlerian, cognitive, behavioral, gestalt, and control theory approaches as well as family, ecosystem, and others
• Developmental adaptations covers ground-breaking new adaptations for adolescents, adults, and the elderly
• Methods and techniques explores advances in traditional techniques such as sand play, Jungian play therapy, and art therapy, and examines other new, high-tech play therapies
• Applications reports on therapeutic applications for psychic trauma, sex abuse, cancer patients, psychotics, and many others

The companion volume to the celebrated classic in the field, Handbook of Play Therapy, Volume Two is an indispensable resource for play therapists, child psychologists and psychiatrists, school counselors and psychologists, and all mental health professionals.

HANDBOOK OF PLAY THERAPY Edited by Charles E. Schaefer and Kevin J. O'Connor

". . . an excellent primary text for upper level students, and a valuable resource for practitioners in the field of child psychotherapy." American Journal of Mental Deficiency

". . . a thorough, thoughtful, and theoretically sound compilation of much of the accumulated knowledge. . . . Like a well-executed stained-glass window that yields beauty and many shades of light through an integrated whole, so too this book synthesizes and reveals many creative facets of this important area of practice." Social Work in Education 1983 (0-471-09462-5) 489 pp.

THE PLAY THERAPY PRIMER Kevin J. O'Connor

The Play Therapy Primer covers the impact of personal values and beliefs on therapeutic work, and provides a detailed description of the process preceding the beginning of therapy. It then offers guidelines and strategies for developing treatment plans respective of the various phases of therapy, including specific in-session techniques, modifications for different ages, transference considerations, and the termination and follow-up of clinical cases. 1991 (0-471-52543-X) 371 pp.

PLAY DIAGNOSIS AND ASSESSMENT Edited by Charles E. Schaefer, Karen Gitlin, and Alice Sandgrund

The first and only book to fully explore the assessment potential of play evaluation, this book offers an impressive array of papers by nearly fifty authorities in the field. Following a logical progression, it is divided into six parts covering the full range of practical and theoretical concerns, including developmental play scales for normal children from preschool to adolescence; diagnostic play scales including those for the evaluation of children with a variety of cognitive, behavioral, and/or emotional disorders; parent/child interaction play scales; projective play techniques; and scales for assessing a child's behavi

KEVIN J. O'CONNOR, PhD, is Professor and Director of the Ecosystemic Clinical Child Psychology Program at the California School of Professional Psychology. He is President of the Association for Play Therapy and Editor of The Association for Play Therapy Newsletter. He maintains a private practice treating children and their families and is author of the widely used text, The Play Therapy Primer.

CHARLES E. SCHAEFER, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Recipient of a Distinguished Service Award from the National Association for Play Therapy for his work as cofounder and Chairman of the Association's board of directors, Dr. Schaefer is also a member of the American Orthopsychiatric Association. A prolific writer in his field, he is the author of numerous books, including How to Help Children with Common Problems, Play Diagnosis and Assessment, and Therapeutic Use of Child's Play. Dr. Schaefer received his doctorate in clinical psychology from Fordham University.