CHILD CENTERED PLAY THERAPY

Catalog description

This course is an introduction to facilitating the counseling relationship with children by utilizing play media to facilitate expression, self-understanding, and personal growth and development. This course provides students with the philosophical basis for play therapy, including a review of the history of play therapy, how to develop a relationship with a child through a child-centered theoretical framework, and an introduction to play therapy best practices. Students will become familiar with play therapy micro-skills, the purpose and application goals of play therapy, therapeutic stages and themes, ethical issues, social and cross cultural / diversity implications, basic developmental and neurological implications, and applications to a variety of populations and therapeutic contexts, and the ability to communicate about play therapy to guardian(s).