This book offers an insight into the work of play specialists, examining the repercussions of being ill and receiving treatment experienced by children and their families. The author proposes that play should be a high priority for those working in hospitals and challenges other health professionals to recognise its value.

Play for Sick Children offers a unique insight into the crucial work of the play specialist. It examines the repercussions of being ill and receiving treatment experienced by children and their families, and highlights the importance of receiving quality play opportunities to counter these negative effects. The author proposes that play should be a high priority for those working in hospitals and other healthcare settings, and challenges other professionals to acknowledge, understand, accept and value the play specialist's role within the multidisciplinary team. The book explores the history of play in hospital, outlines the basic techniques and practical approaches used in working with sick children and young people, and identifies and discusses key theoretical and practical elements of the ever-changing role of the play specialist. This all-encompassing resource will be of great value to the ever growing and dedicated community of professionals who provide play, information and emotional support for sick children and their families.

The Handbook of Medical Play Therapy and Child Life brings together the voices and clinical experiences of dedicated clinical practitioners in the fields of play therapy and child life. This volume offers fresh insights and up to date research in the use of play with children, adolescents, and families in medical and healthcare settings. Chapters take a strength-based approach to clinical interventions across a wide range of health-related issues, including autism, trauma, routine medical care, pending surgeries both large and small, injury, immune deficiency, and more. Through its focus on the resiliency of the child, the power of play, and creative approaches to healing, this handbook makes visible the growing overlap and collaboration between the disciplines of play therapy and child life.

"The most brilliant and intuitive, as well as the clearest written, work in this field. It is unpretentious yet clearly the most authoritative work that has been published." NORMAN CAMERON, Ph.D. Professor of Psychiatry Yale University School of Medicine Here is an intensely practical book that gives specific illustrations of how therapy can be implemented in play contacts, and tells how the toys of the playroom can be vivid performers and aids in growth. As she did with DIBS IN SEARCH OF SELF, Dr. Axline has taken true case histories from the rich mine of verbatim case material of children referred for play therapy, choosing children ranging in age, problem, and personality. It's all here in an important and rewarding book for parents, teachers, and anyone who comes in contact with children.

An invaluable reference for parents of sick or hospitalized children by an experienced psychosocial counselor. To many parents, it is hard to imagine a more upsetting reality than one where their child is hospitalized, severely sick, or terminally ill. In When Your Child is Sick, psychosocial counselor Joanna Breyer distills decades of experience working with sick children and their families into a comprehensive guide for navigating the uncharted and frightening terrain. She provides expert advice to guide them through the hospital setting, at-home care, and long-term outcomes. Breyer's actionable techniques and direct advice will help parents feel more in-control of a circumstance that has upended their life. She alerts parents to key personnel in the hospital, gives dialogue prompts to help parents ask for the help they need, addresses the needs of their other children at home, offers advice on how to best utilize friends and family who want to help, includes stories from other families who have been there, and teaches coping techniques to help both parents and children weather the stress of prolonged illness and even death. When Your Child is Sick is a valuable guide to managing the myriad practical and emotional complications of an impossible situation.