Play Therapy: A Comprehensive Guide to Theory and Practice (Creative Arts and Play Therapy)

This authoritative work brings together leading play therapists to describe state-of-the-art clinical approaches and applications. The book explains major theoretical frameworks and summarizes the contemporary play therapy research base, including compelling findings from neuroscience. Contributors present effective strategies for treating children struggling with such problems as trauma, maltreatment, attachment difficulties, bullying, rage, grief, and autism spectrum disorder. Practice principles are brought to life in vivid case illustrations throughout the volume. Special topics include treatment of military families and play therapy interventions for adolescents and adults.

David A. Crenshaw, PhD, ABPP, RPT-S, is Clinical Director of the Children’s Home of Poughkeepsie, New York, and Adjunct Faculty at Marist College. He has taught graduate courses in play therapy at Johns Hopkins University and Columbia University and has published widely on child and adolescent therapy, child abuse and trauma, and resilience in children. A Fellow of the American Psychological Association and of its Division of Child and Adolescent Psychology, Dr. Crenshaw has received lifetime achievement awards from the New York Association for Play Therapy and the Hudson Valley Psychological Association. He is a past chair of the board of directors of the Coalition against Sexual and Domestic Abuse and a member of the professional advisory board of the Courthouse Dogs Foundation and of the Dutchess County Task Force against Human Trafficking.

Anne L. Stewart, PhD, RPT-S, is Professor of Graduate Psychology at James Madison University, where she teaches, supervises, and conducts play therapy each week. She has written and presented internationally about crisis intervention, attachment, supervision, military families, improvisation, and resilience. She is Founder and President of the Virginia Association for Play Therapy, Chair of the National Foundation for Play Therapy, and an editorial board member of the International Journal of Play Therapy. Dr. Stewart is a recipient of the Distinguished Service Award from the Association for Play Therapy and the Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.