 How that relationship is built and/or maintained can vary with or without technology” (personal communication, April 12, 2018). She later added:


Technology, as with any other media in play therapy, should be used with intention. What is the play value? Does the technology promote one or more of the therapeutic powers of play? How does the use of technology (in whatever form) impact the therapeutic relationship?            enhance or inhibit various areas of child development, including the ability to self-regulate? (Personal communication, June 28, 2018)


Terry Kottman responded:


Because so many children are playing out themes from video games in their sessions, play therapists need to educate themselves about the content (plot and characters) of video games and they need to know enough about video games to help parents understand which games are age-appropriate for children and which should be prohibited   used to provide a way to use technology in play therapy sessions to  to practice targeted skills (like cooperation, anxiety management, and frustration tolerance strategies) that can then be applied to other outside-the-playroom situations and relationships. (Personal communication, June 28, 2018)


She acknowledged that her “current stance was spurred by that conversation” and that she owes her “ ‘conversion’ [on the issue of using technology in play therapy] to the conversation,”


from http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2016/10/19/ peds.2016-2591


American Academy of Pediatrics, Council on Communications and Media. (2016b). Media use in school-age children and adolescents. Pediatrics, 138(5), 1-6. Retrieved from http://pediatrics.aappublications. org/content/early/2016/10/19/peds.2016-2592


Guerney, L. (2001). Child-centered play therapy. International Journal of Play Therapy, 10(2), 13-31. doi:10.1037/h0089477


Homeyer, L. E., & Morrison, M. O. (2008). Play therapy: Practice, issues, and trends. American Journal of Play, 1, 210-228. Retrieved from http:// www.journalofplay.org/sites/www.journalofplay.org/files/pdf- articles/1-2-article-play-therapy.pdf


Kottman, T. (2017, October). Meeting clients where they are: Using the language of video games in play therapy. Presentation given at the Annual Association for Play Therapy International Conference, Minneapolis, MN.


Kottman, T., & Meany-Walen, K. K. (2018). Doing play therapy: From building the relationship to facilitating change. New York, NY: Guilford Press.


Kottman, T., Petersen, N., Kottman, J., & Lavenz, B. (2018). How to talk so gamers will listen and listen so gamers will talk: Using the language of video games in play therapy and counseling. Cedar Falls, IA: The Encouragement Zone.


Lamb, R., Etopio, E., & Lamb, R. E. (2018). Virtual reality in play therapy. Play Therapy, 13(1), 22-25.


Landreth, G. (2012). Play therapy: The art of the relationship (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Bruner-Routledge.


O’Connor, K. J. (2016). Ecosystemic play therapy. In K. J. O’Connor, C. E. Schaefer, & L. D. Braverman (Eds.), Handbook of play therapy (2nd ed., pp. 195-225). New York, NY: Wiley.


(personal


communication, May 27, 2018), citing her new self-published book (e.g., Kottman, Petersen, Kottman, & Lavenz, 2018) and workshops she has recently given with her son, Jacob (e.g., Kottman, 2017), as examples of how she has translated her recent changes in thought into practice.


Conclusion The use of technology in the playroom is a personal choice that play therapists will have to weigh and measure continually. On one hand, children are comfortable and agile with electronic devices and the advantages of


the digital traces they leave. On the other, children


nowadays may have fewer opportunities to engage with an attentive adult in an un-plugged setting who can communicate understanding and build a relationship with them. Although play therapists will have to ponder whether and to what extent to include technology in and between sessions, all of us can agree that the relationship provides the true impetus for change through play therapy (e.g., Guerney, 2001; Homeyer & Morrison, 2008; Kottman & Meany-Walen, 2018; Landreth, 2012; O’Connor, 2016; Perry, 1994; Schaefer & Drewes, 2011).


References American Academy of Pediatrics, Council on Communications and Media. (2016a). Media and young minds. Pediatrics, 138(5), 1-6. Retrieved


Perry, L. (1994). Audrey, the bois d’arc and me: A time of becoming. In T. Kottman & C. E. Schaefer (Eds.), Play therapy in action: A casebook for practitioners Reid Chassiakos, Y., Radesky, J., Christakis, D., Moreno, M. A. Cross, C., & Council on Communications and Media. (2016). Children and adolescents and digital media. Pediatrics, 138(5), e1-e18. Retrieved from http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2016/10/19/ peds.2016-2593


Schaefer, C. E., & Drewes, A. (2011). The therapeutic powers of play and play therapy. In C. E. Schaefer (Ed.), Foundations of play therapy (2nd ed., pp. 15-25). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.


Siegel, D. J. (2015). Brainstorm: The power and purpose of the teenage brain. New York, NY: Penguin.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Sarah D. Stauffer, PhD, LP (Switzerland), LPC, NCC, NCSC, RPT-S is a psychologist for ESPAS and the University of Lausanne’s Child  She is a Leadership Academy graduate, a member of the International Journal of Play Therapy Editorial Board, Research Committee, and is the Clinical Editor for Play Therapy™. sarah.stauffer@me.com


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