Adlerian Play Therapy Analysis

Children have limited means to verbally express themselves. Garry Landreth, author of Play Therapy: The Art of the Relationship, describes play therapy as a vehicle for communication. Landreth (2012) says for children, play is the language and toys act as the words. For therapists in the playroom, the manner in which they facilitate conversation is crucial.

This author will investigate how individual play therapy evolved and how it is conceptualized using a child-center play therapy (CCPT) approach compared to an Adlerian play therapy (AdPT) approach.

Play Therapy

Play has roots deeply entrenched in history. Philosopher Plato is quoted as early as 429 B.C. as saying "you can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of

The Association for Play Therapy (APT) simplifies play therapy as "a way of being with the child that honors their unique developmental level and looks for ways of helping in the "language" of the child - play" ("Why Play Therapy? - Association For Play Therapy", 2016). APT (2016) also differentiates play therapy from regular play by terming play therapy as a systematic and therapeutic. One of the more popular and most common approaches to play therapy is derived from Carl Roger 's person-centered therapy. This therapy is a nondirective approach referred to as child-centered play therapy

The CCPT approach is effective across many different presenting problems, is most beneficial to children 8 years or younger, and does have some cultural implications as Lin and Bratton (2015) found.

Adlerian Play Therapy

Adlerian theory 's lifeblood is in encouragement. This theory looks at individuals with a holistic view and says individuals strive for superiority that is fueled by their inferior feelings. In Adlerian play therapy (AdPT), the therapist invests in the power of play to create a therapeutic bond based in shared experiences (Kottman, 2001). Terry Kottman developed AdPT as a way to integrate the principles of Adlerian with play concepts and skills and it is regarded as one of the top three approaches to play therapy (Meany-Walen, Kottman, Bullis & Dillman, 2015).

Adlerian as a theory is eclectic, but at its core the goal of AdPT is to celebrate the child 's uniqueness and provide focused encouragement on abilities and strengths. AdPT integrates both directive and nondirective elements to facilitate