CHILD-CENTERED Play Therapy C | DEE C. RAY, PHD, LPC-S, RPT-S & GARRY L. LANDRETH, EDD, LPC, RPT-S
hild-centered play therapy (CCPT) grounded
and evidence-based
is a theoretically- intervention
recognizes the relationship between therapist and
child as the primary healing factor for children who are experiencing emotional and behavioral challenges. Axline (1947) developed CCPT by applying Rogers’s (1951) person-centered counseling approach to children. Initially referred to as nondirective play therapy, Landreth developed CCPT. CCPT is supported by almost 80 years of research on its effectiveness and is recognized by formal agencies as a promising evidence-based treatment (e.g., California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare; APA Division 53 Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology). In separate meta-analyses, Lin and Bratton (2015) and Ray, Armstrong, Balkin, and Jayne (2015) reported that CCPT participation across varied settings and across cultures behavioral problems and parent-child relationships.
Basic Tenets According to person-centered theory, a child’s construct of
self
develops through reciprocity between the child’s innate self-actualizing tendency and personal perceptions of experiences and interactions with others (Ray, 2011). A child comes to evaluate self-worth based on perceived expectations and acceptance from others. Behaviors, emotions, and thoughts emerge holistically as a result of a child’s view of self and ongoing experiences. Children who perceive incongruence between the way in which they see themselves and messages they receive from others are likely to develop rigid and fragile ways of being and manifest problematic behaviors, emotions, and thought patterns. “A powerful force exists within every child that strives continuously for self-actualization. This inherent striving is toward independence, maturity, and self-direction” (Landreth, 2012, p. 62).
CCPT focuses on facilitating an environment of safety, acceptance, and empathic understanding in order to unleash the child’s natural tendency toward self- and other-enhancing growth. In CCPT, the therapist trusts the child’s inner direction to move toward positive growth within facilitative relationships. The therapist recognizes that the best way to understand a child’s behaviors and emotions is to empathically
18 | PLAYTHERAPY September 2019 |
www.a4pt.org that
discover the way in which a child sees his or her world. CCPT is most effective when a therapist can provide, and a child can perceive, an environment and relationship accepting of the child’s internal world, a relationship that leads toward personal integration and functionality (Ray & Landreth, 2015).
Perspective on Child Clients In CCPT, the person of the child is the primary focus. Children may be referred for challenging behaviors and/or concerning diagnoses, yet the CCPT therapist seeks to build a relationship with the child, not the problem (Landreth, 2012). Maladjustment results from incongruence a child experiences between concept of self and encounters with others or the environment (Landreth, 2012). Problematic behaviors develop from an inability to reconcile self-perceptions in relationships or environmental demands. When children exhibit concerning behaviors, those behaviors are manifestations of the child’s view of self and world. Hence, CCPT therapists do not view problem behaviors as seen, heard, and accepted. Although CCPT therapists are trained in based perspective negates the very foundation of CCPT tenets and contradicts the goals of CCPT.
Treatment Description CCPT occurs in a playroom supplied with carefully selected toys and materials that encourage the expression of a wide range of feelings, facilitate therapeutic use, and promote relationship building (Ray & Landreth, 2015). The setting often determines playroom size. Playroom materials, placed throughout the room within categories (i.e., real-life, acting-out/aggressive- release, creative/expressive), allow for visibility of each material.
CCPT practice is particularly concerned with providing an environment of safety in order
to facilitate the child’s exploration of self and
letting go of rigid behaviors resultant from a threatened self-concept. Consequently, the child-directed nature of sessions is one unique and essential feature. The child decides session content by taking the lead in play and interaction. The therapist facilitates the child’s exploration and attempts to empathically respond to the child’s worldview by not guiding goals or therapeutic content (Ray & Landreth, 2015). Axline
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