Adlerian Play Therapy

In counseling, play therapy is a form of psychotherapy that allows children to communicate their experiences and express their feelings. Play therapy is a widely empirical intervention that promotes healing in children. Play therapy is identified as the most used approach among diverse theoretical modalities of working with children (Cheng & Ray, 2016). Multiple studies including meta-analytical reviews have shown child-centered play therapy (CCPT) to be an effective therapeutic treatment intervention for children (Cheng & Ray, 2016). CCPT stems from the person-centered philosophy which provides many advantages. This therapeutic technique increases social, emotional and behavioral development (Cheng & Ray, 2016). It also promotes self-control,

(2014) describe Adlerian Play Therapy as the theory behind play therapy. Meany-Walen et al. (2015) study investigated the effectiveness of Adlerian group play therapy with children with problematic classroom behaviors. Results suggest that students’ on-task behaviors improve during the Adlerian group play therapy intervention. Adlerian Play Therapy is a counseling intervention rooted from individual psychology which incorporates nondirective and directive play techniques (Meany-Walen et al., 2014). A survey of the American Counseling Association and the Association for Play Therapy membership indicated that Adlerian theory was one of the most commonly used theoretical perspectives used by child counselors (Meany-Walen et al., 2014). In the process of Adlerian Play Therapy, children are given the opportunity to practice social skills and get to experiment with new thoughts and feelings. The author’s state Adlerian play therapists allow children to directly or indirectly rehearse their changing perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors through appropriate

Trice-Black et al. (2013) state many challenges in play therapy are due to misconceptions about the process of play therapy. For example, the author’s state it is a common concern that play therapy is costly due to supplies, which prevents therapists from using this intervention. As it was stated previously many toys are not necessary to conduct play therapy. A challenge therapists may face is watching children struggle during tasks which leads to feeling the need to comfort a child as they play out difficult situations. However, it is important that children work through their struggles. Trice-Black et al. (2013) state that providing children with an environment of safety where they struggle to successfully complete tasks promotes independence, self-esteem, and