Contributions by Anna Bowers; Nancy Riedel Bowers Ph.D; Alan McLuckie; Evangeline Munns; Melissa Rowbotham and Kristin Trotter Play Therapy and Families: A Collaborative Approach to Healing provides a thorough description of play from prominent academics, researchers, and relevant writers who review it historically. It contains a unique approach for helping families, outlining an in-depth review of play and its relevancy to healing for children and families, putting forth a brand new Collaborative Play Therapy Model. The application to healing and psychotherapy follows, outlining the directive and non-directive orientations to healing, models that are current in the literature, and selected family-based play therapy models. An extensive overview of family therapy and associated models is presented as a foundation for the reader in order to relate play and family therapy from an academic point of view. This provides the theoretical background for the chapters on play therapy approaches that follow. Family play therapy addresses the inclusion of the family with techniques that contribute to healing. Narrative play therapy is presented with an in depth historical account and the phases of the narrative approach. Filial and theraplay models of play therapy are presented with an account of their development and focus on the phases of intervention for children and families. The book concludes with a sandtray approach to working with adoptive families, rounding out this collection’s presentation of current and researched models of play therapy. --- from the publisher Reviews and Endorsements: Nancy Riedel Bowers's edited text brings together an interesting combination of authors around the central theme of the relationship between play and family life. Starting with an overview of the many faces of the family throughout the world, the book explores the way in which play can act as a therapeutic agent when things go wrong. Two classic models, theraplay and filial play, are explored alongside the introduction of collaborative play therapy. This new approach combines genograms, timelines, and ecomaps with all that is creative in a child's life to activate our natural healing potential. This book will stimulate and challenge the reader in equal measure. — Fraser Brown, Leeds Metropolitan University Play Therapy with Families: A Collaborative Approach to Healing is lucid and fascinating. The contributors to this book write with clarity and vividness. This volume not only benefits professionals, but also parents and communities.
— Wood C. W. Woo, MASW, family therapy Contents: List of Figures
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: Play as a Voice for Our Children
Nancy Riedel Bowers and Anna Bowers
Chapter 2: Setting the Context-Play and its Therapeutic Application
Nancy Riedel Bowers
Chapter 3: Family Therapy
Kristin Trotter
Chapter 4: Family Play Therapy
Kristin Trotter
Chapter 5: Narrative Play Therapy with Families
Alan McLuckie and Melissa Rowbotham
Chapter 6: Filial Therapy and Theraplay
Evangeline Munns
Chapter 7: Working with Adoptive Families Using Sand, Water, Miniatures and a Sandtray
Theresa Fraser
Index
About the Authors About the Editor: Nancy Riedel Bowers, RSW, Rpt-S, PhD, holds positions within the seminary and faculty of social work at Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, in Ontario, Canada. Nancy holds the position of APT-continuing education provider and is a registered supervisor with APT and CACPT.
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