It’s Magic!
Using Magic as Metaphor in Play Therapy
| MARGO A. NAPOLETANO, PHD, RPT-S
“C
hildren understand magic as a way to make things happen that ordinarily cannot happen. It can give children a sense of control and mastery
in situations which seem hopeless and does so with delight and joy… magic restores hope” (Linden, 2003, p. 247). Even before the success of the Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Frozen books and movies, magic had a unique and universal appeal across cultures for centuries and captured the interest of people of all ages. Magic is a powerful and playful metaphor for change, that can facilitate use of the play therapist’s theories of choice.
Metaphor as a teaching method has been widely used for centuries with children and adults. It uses the child’s natural language and can be understood by clients of all ages (Mills & Crowley, 2014). The play therapist’s office is full of metaphoric tools in the stories, books, art, games, and toys. Magic materials and tricks are rich with hidden meaning and can metaphorically represent accessible to children.
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Although the use of metaphor for teaching and magic dates back to earlier centuries, only a small amount of research exists on its therapeutic use. Several authors provided information on the therapeutic use of metaphors (e.g., Crenshaw & Green, 2009; Frey, 1993; Friedman, 2008; Mills & Crowley, 2014). Wiseman and Watt (2018) wrote a comprehensive review of magic-based interventions within healthcare and educational settings, citing studies that documented effectiveness for psychological and physical well-being, including the benefits of teaching magic tricks to children and adults. Other authors described the therapeutic use of magic with children (e.g., Gilroy, 1998, 2001; Hart & Walton, 2010; Schaefer & Cangelosi, 2016).
Therapeutic Benefits of Metaphor and Magic Performing a magic trick enhances the transformative power of a metaphor. Metaphors and magic symbolically represent
treatment
issues and can be used to reach a variety of goals, such as establishing and maintaining rapport; bypassing resistance, because they are less threatening; increasing cognitive functioning (e.g., attention, memory,
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