Careful, You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out LAWRENCE RUBIN, PHD, ABPP, LMHC, RPT-S


OPENING SALVO Ironic, or tragic, isn’t it how “weaponized” our lexicon has become? And, how dynamite-wielding and gun-toting cartoon, television, comic book, video game, and movie characters have given us such endearing expressions like, “You’ll shoot your eye out!” or, “You’re killing me Smalls!” And for good reason; aggression has been touted as an inherent characteristic of our species, hard-


 include guns and other weapons in our playroom, aren’t we complicit in  and now ask if you use toy guns in your play therapy, to do the same.


Influential play therapists from Axline (1947) to Moustakas (1959) to Landreth (2012) understood the need to counteract violent tendencies by providing access to toys that allow for emotional expression and aggressive release. However, Schaefer and Mattei


(2005) cogently


argued that cathartic release of aggression, without strengthening ego or superego control, increases the chances of aggression outside of the playroom. Ergo, prior to having evidence that the child is controlling his/ her aggression inside and outside of session further contraindicates toy gun presence in the playroom.


YOU’LL SHOOT YOUR EYE OUT  toy guns in the playroom, aren’t therapists giving children encouragement to further express violent and aggressive impulses? Are play therapists shirking a civic responsibility by not removing guns and other violent toys from their playrooms? How many anti-gun therapists, and/or those who have worked with anti-gun families, have been placed in morally uncomfortable positions because toy guns have been tacitly accepted as standard play therapy fare?


Finding the middle ground serves as a call to further action and exploration of this topic. Further research needs to explore toy gun use and children’s depth of expression. Such studies would allow clinicians to gain better insight into whether toy guns within the playroom have therapeutic value. Afterward, a broader conversation could objectively analyze their intentional inclusion or exclusion within the playroom.


Many school districts have adopted zero-tolerance policies that prohibit toy weapons or the simulation of their use on school grounds (Holland, 2003). In the US, zero-tolerance gun policies were enacted under the Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994. Comparable to applications Holland (2003) described, school counselors and other school-based play therapists in the US may be restricted from including toy guns within their toy selection. From my school-based play therapy experiences, I have found that children often are creative and will use imaginary guns when playing out aggressive themes 


COUNTER POINT


Research has highlighted the instrumental and adaptive nature of aggression in reducing frustration, but fails to prove that guns are the necessary tools towards that end (Bresin & Gordon, 2013). Winburn, Dugger, and Main (2017) indicated that clinicians recognize the problem of societal gun violence but remain ambivalent when it comes to recommending the removal of playroom guns. O’Connor   way as to meet the developmental and therapeutic needs of the clients being served” (p. 7). Therefore, the therapist should exercise careful discretion regarding choice of materials, particularly guns, if the child’s developmental or clinical history, the treatment plan, or the family’s and even the clinician’s belief system militates against their presence in the playroom. Think of it! An easily accomplished ban on toy weapons from ten thousand playrooms can have profound effects on the emotional landscape of a generation of children.


Common sense tells us that “guns don’t kill people, people kill people,” but why put these blatant symbols of destruction in the hands of children who may grow up to become those very people? Our rampantly gun-violent society tallies the body count while we patiently wait for research to validate the other factors that contribute to gun violence: flawed enforcement of extant gun control legislation, the prevalence and accessibility of guns, violence in the media and the home, and, of course, psychopathology.


The time for action is now, and every little bit helps, so why not start that little bit with our littlest citizens by just saying no to guns in the playroom?


one’s views or beliefs on this topic, play therapists can all agree that this issue is delicate, and continues to be complicated by the recent series of mass shootings in the US.


If we solely consider play therapists’ attitudes or beliefs, it may be nearly          accurately evaluate and to understand our intentional selection of toys to 


CLINICAL EDITOR’S COMMENTS:


This column features insights and differing perspectives on controversial play therapy issues. Contributors’ views are their own.


www.a4pt.org | June 2018 | PLAYTHERAPY | 17


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