Drawing upon contemporary psychoanalytic thought, attachment theory, and the literature on children's emotional development, this book not only offers a novel conceptualization of ADHD but also a sophisticated and practical set of ideas for adapting play therapy to effectively treat it. It articulates an approach to understanding and helping ADHD children that expands and augments even as it challenges the usual neurocognitive and medicalized perspectives. The reader will appreciate the value of an energetic play process with ADHD children, encounter justifications for the therapist's liberal use of authentic self-expression and judicious mentoring for socialization purposes, be prompted to think differently about the role of interpretation and mutual enactment in child work, and locate guidelines for working supportively and caringly with parents. The book contains ample, lucid case descriptions and clinical vignettes to ground and enrich the reader's understanding of concepts and techniques. It is an essential read for mental health professionals, researches, educators and parents wishing to enlarge their understanding of ADHD.

Children feel emotions in many ways. At times, the intensity of children’s emotions can create difficulties at school, home, and social settings, and obstruct children’s relationships with others in their lives. Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) has been proven as an evidence-based intervention for teenagers and adults with various mental health diagnoses that focuses on mindfulness, interpersonal relationships, distress tolerance, and emotional regulation. This helpful workbook guides clinicians to translate DBT principles through play therapy–informed activities for children and their caregivers. Supportive activities and techniques for use in the therapy room and at home with children are provided to assist children in managing their emotions and strengthening their relationships. Blending the facilitative powers of DBT and play therapy allows children to use the needed tools and techniques to process their internal conflicts. Utilizing these skills while combining the therapeutic powers of play allows children to better understand their world.

Implementing Play Therapy with Groups is a new and innovative edited book bringing together experts from across the field of play therapy to explore how to facilitate group play therapy across challenging settings, diagnoses, and practice environments. Applying theoretical and empirical information to address treatment challenges, each chapter focuses on a specific treatment issue and explores ways the reader can implement group work within their play therapy work. Chapters also provide contemporary evidence-based clinical information in providing group therapy with specific populations such as working with children who have been exposed to violence, trauma, adoption, foster care, those who are chronically medically fragile, and more. This book will bring awareness to, and provide easily implemented play therapy knowledge and interventions for, child and family therapists who work in a range of settings including schools, hospitals, residential treatment centers, and community mental health settings.

The Playing Cure focuses on the curative powers of play and the application of play therapy to a wide variety of psychological problems. The authors present a prescriptive approach built on years of research. With clear examples, they demonstrate how play therapy can be adapted to the treatment of many distinct clinical populations including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), anxiety disorders, and adjustment reactions. This innovative approach challenges clinicians to implement a broad range of interventions that can be fine-tuned to the needs of each child.

Learning mindfulness strategies can be difficult for children and adolescents, let alone when kids have autism, anxiety, ADHD or other emotional regulation issues. That's why play therapist and counselor, Tracy Turner-Bumberry has created 75 simple, playful and on-point interventions that combines mindfulness, expressive arts and play to help kids achieve greater self-regulation, focus more and stress less.

This volume presents a variety of play approaches that facilitate children's healing in a shorter time frame. Invaluable for any clinician seeking to optimize limited time with clients, the book provides effective methods for treating children struggling with such challenges as posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, disruptive behavior, mood disorders, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and parental divorce. Individual, family, and group treatment models are described and illustrated with richly detailed case examples. Featuring session-by-session guidelines, chapters demonstrate how to engage clients rapidly, develop appropriate treatment goals, and implement carefully structured brief interventions that yield lasting results.

Separated into seven categories for easy reference, the techniques within each chapter are applied to practice situations in a concise format for easy reference and use. The interventions illustrated include Storytelling, to enhance verbalizations in children; Expressive Art, to promote children's coping ability by using various art mediums; Game Play, to help children express themselves in a playful environment; Puppet Play, to facilitate the expression of conflicting emotions; Play Toys and Objects, to demonstrate the therapeutic use of various toys and objects in the playroom; Group Play, to offer methods and play techniques for use in group settings; and Other, to provide miscellaneous techniques that are useful in many settings. This book is a response to the evident need of clinicians for easy to use play therapy techniques. A welcome addition to the earlier collection, it is designed to help children enhance verbalization of feeling, manage anger, deal with loss and grief, and heal their wounds through the magic of play therapy. Clear and marvelously simple, this manual will be an invaluable addition to any professional's or student's library. A Jason Aronson Book