DON’T LEAVE THE


PLAY BEHIND: The Importance of Play in the Life of Play Therapists


BY LARRY RUBIN, PH.D., ABPP, LMHC, RPT-S


Initial Thoughts The initial impetus for this article, very different fare for “our” magazine, came from a meeting with my new professional neighbor Stephanie, mother of one, licensed Mental Health Counselor and Registered Play Therapist. Our conversation drifted between play therapy, building a practice, and how we play, or in my case played, with our own children after a day of professional play therapy. Of course, and as many of you can likely identify with, we lamented often not having the same energy and focus while playing with our own children as we do with others’. Interestingly, later that day, I was asked to contribute


an article to Play Therapy™ magazine. Without thought, but likely triggered by the earlier conversation with Stephanie, I offered the idea of a piece focusing on the importance of play in the life of adults, play therapists in particular. I liked the sound and feel of the proposed article, but was immediately struck by the reality of the work that it would entail, and groaned . . . at least initially because as the process unfolded, I realized that this was also to be a ‘labor of play.’ Flash forward to this very moment of writing. As I


reflect back on both the effort and effortlessness that accompanied this project and the lingering questions of “was it work or play or both?”; “what actually defines play for we grownups?”; and “is play as critical to our own emotional, cognitive, physical, and even spiritual health as it is to that of the children with whom we work?!” To help answer the questions, I reached out in an absolutely


COMMENTS BY CLINICAL EDITOR: Author reminds us of the essential nature of play.


non-random and non-scientific (forgive me, please!) fashion to fellow play therapists for their experiences with and attitudes toward play in adulthood and how these have informed their work as play therapists. I offer the following.


General Benefits of Play in Adulthood Few people would argue that we have been the beneficiaries of Freud’s genius. However, his notion that play as the sole province of childhood that must yield to the adult pursuit of love and work – lieben and arbeiten, has led researchers away from the study of play in adulthood as a crucial element in healthy development across the lifespan. Fortunately, psychologist David Elkind (2008), author of The Hurried Child and The Power of Play, argued that play augments the power and pursuit of love and work, and allows for balance and the expression of creativity, imagination, and fantasy throughout life. Similarly, pioneering play researcher Brian Sutton-Smith (2008) argued that Homo Ludens (Playing Man) is our rightful evolutionary title, and that play is a fortification against the disabilities of life . . . [which] transcends life’s distresses and boredom” (p. 116). Finally, and noting the paradoxical disappearance of


unstructured childhood play alongside the explosive emergence of both organized and spontaneous adult play, Teitel (1999) ironically reflects, “this [phenomenon] may be the inverted baby boom assault on the natural order…today we play and our kids do not…we have stolen play from them” (p. 55). If this be the case, then I am a


11 PLAYTHERAPY | September 2016 | www.a4pt.org


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