Aside from the many Sand Play Therapy articles I posted earlier, I came across a bunch of other interesting stuff this month.

First off is this excellent article by Phyllis Hasty which discusses the many ways to incorporate books in play therapy practices. It also has a lot of great recommendations for books that children enjoy reading in play therapy...

Dynamic Duo: Combining Bibliotherapy with Play Therapy Techniques

We have many articles by Cathy Malchiodi on our articles and research site, but this is one of the best. It's an excellent outline of the various types of expressive therapies...

Expressive Therapies: History, Theory, and Practice

Ms. Malchiodi also has a blog on the Psychology Today site called The Healing Arts that's worth checking out. Here's her latest entry concerning art therapy techniques:

Cool Art Therapy Intervention #3: It’s all about the metaphor

It's always great to see how Play Therapy is being used throughout the world to help those in need, and August was a big month for that. Here's Play Therapy in the news...

Haiti’s Plas Timoun offers play therapy to young quake victims by Edward Cody, Washington Post
Service dog helps Oxnard woman with her epilepsy and therapy practice by Alicia Doyle, Ventura County Star
Play therapy to help children, parents by Laura Hand (Oswego, NY)
P.L.A.Y Project Helps Autistic Boy by Deena Centofanti, Fox Detroit
In Pictures: Play therapy sessions in Pakistan camps
Teen writes book about managing grief by Sharon Lem, Toronto Sun
Donated dolls to help sick kids by Joe Mauceri (Wilmington, NC)
Children’s silent scream for help by Claudia Calleja, Times of Malta
Local Doctor Teaching Kids How to Battle Bullying by Selena Hernandez (Dallas, TX)

Hope everyone's managing to stay out of the heat. I, for one, am just about ready for the Fall. If you're looking for a learning experience in the coming months, be sure to check out the upcoming Play Therapy conferences and workshops at our resources page.

I recently came across a treasure trove of great articles, research studies and case reports concerning the many uses of Sand Tray (or Sandplay) therapy. I use the sand tray often with my clients and I find reading these studies to be pretty informative. Thought I'd share just a few of the more interesting ones, but if you want more check out the Research & Case Reports category at MyPlayTherapyPage.com .

Aspects of the Sand Tray/Sand Play Session by Roxanne Rae, L.C.S.W., B.C.D.

Sand Play Therapy with U.S. Soldiers Diagnosed With PTSD and Their Families by Poppy K. Moon

Sandtray Network Journal #6

Sandplay Therapy with Traumatic Brain Injured Adults: An Exploratory Qualitative Study by Lorraine Razzi Freedle

Some Comparisons of Sand Tray Approaches by Roxanne Rae, L.C.S.W., B.C.D.

Expressive Therapies: History, Theory and Practice by Cathy A. Malchiodi

Creative Metaphors of Life Experiences Seen in Play Therapy by Marilyn S. Snow, Ruth Ouzts, Erin E. Martin, and Heather Helm

Story of a Sexually Abused Child’s Sandplay: A Single Case Study by Cynthia R. Mathis

Exploring Sandplay Therapy: Application to Individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury by Cynthia Plotts, Jon Lasser, and Steven Prater

July is in it's final stretch this week so I thought I'd do another monthly Play Therapy wrap-up. These and hundreds of other articles and resources can be found at MyPlayTherapyPage.com .

It was kind of a slow month news-wise, but here are a few articles (and videos) worth checking out...

Work is play for Elizabethtown therapist by Robert Villanueva (Elizabethtown, KY)

Therapist Talks to KFOX About Effects of Child Abuse (video)
For kids with special needs, camp comes with valuable therapy, higher price tag (Washington Post)
Parent Coaching Helps Solve Child Behavior Problems by Julie Cornell (Omaha, NE)

I also added these interesting and well-researched articles to our large collection of Research and Case Reports ...

No Small Change: Process-Oriented Play Therapy for Children of Separating Parents by Sylvia Camastral (pdf)
Empirically-Informed Play Therapy Interventions by Sueann G. Kenney-Noziska, MSW, LISW, RPT-S
Harnessing the Power of Play: Opportunities for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders by Sonia Mastrangelo (pdf)

And, of course, there are lots of upcoming conferences and training events being held across the world. I try to keep a running list going, but it's hard to stay aware of everything that's going on. If you know of an event that I've missed, please let me know in the comments section.

Have a great August. Try to stay cool.

I just finished posting a bunch of new articles and resources to MyPlayTherapyPage.com and thought I'd post a quick run-down of what I found and what's been happening in the world of play therapy this month.

-Author and practitioner Paris Goodyear-Brown has written this interesting short article on dysregulation citing effective interventions.

-Diane E. Frey's "Creative Strategies for the Treatment of Anger" provides a very thorough and well-researched argument for the use of play therapy in anger management.

-Interested in being a presenter at the 2011 Texas Association for Play Therapy Conference? TAPT is accepting proposals through September 1st.

-The National Center for Death Education will be hosting it's 2010 Summer Institute on Grief and Loss in late July. For info on other upcoming events, check out our resource page at MyPlayTherapyPage.com.

-The California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists has launched a video podcast series which seems interesting to both parents and play therapists. The first three topics include discussions on behavior, divorce, and an introduction to play therapy.

-Here's a very interesting CNN article on "video playdates" and the impact of technology on the way children interact.

-And finally some news of the weird. Apparently play therapy is helping this Indonesian chain-smoking toddler kick the habit.


For more articles and resources check out MyPlayTherapyPage.com, MyParentingPage.com, and MySpecialEd-504Page.com . Hope everyone has had a great summer so far.


 
 

We received this email recently, and, while it's not directly linked to play therapy, I'm sure it would be of interest to many of the counselors and play therapists who read our blog:

As the Sandplay Therapists of America conference wraps up this weekend, I thought I'd post about other informative events coming up.

Looking for a good excuse to visit the Windy City this summer? Or perhaps sunny California in the Fall? Here's a list of introductory training events being offered by The Theraplay Institute. They also offer presentations, seminars and workshops for introductory group therapy and MIM Skills Training, as well as intermediate- and advanced-level training. View the full schedule here.  Theraplay is a short-term, therapist-guided dyadic psychotherapy that focuses on parent-child relationships. Learn more at www.theraplay.org.


June 22-25   Introductory Theraplay & MIM                           Cedar Rapids, IA
July 12-15     Introductory Theraplay & MIM                           College Park, MD
July 16           Theraplay Groups:  An Introduction                College Park, MD
July 20-23     Introductory Theraplay & MIM                           Chicago, IL (ASL Trans)
July 24           Theraplay Groups:  An Introduction                Chicago, IL
Aug 10-13     Introductory Theraplay & MIM                           Helena, MT
Aug 23-26     Introductory Theraplay & MIM                           Ignacio (Durango), CO
Sep 13-17     Introductory Theraplay & MIM                           Peoria, IL
Sep 27-30     Introductory Theraplay & MIM                           Birmingham, AL
Oct 26-29     Introductory Theraplay & MIM                            Sacramento, CA
Nov 8            Theraplay Groups: An Introduction                  Chicago area
Nov 9-12       Introductory Theraplay & MIM                           Chicago area

And of course there's the Super Bowl of play therapy events, the APT Annual conference in Louisville, Kentucky, October 12-17. 

You can find ongoing updates on training events on the resources page of our articles and resources site MyPlayTherapyPage.com. We also have a section dedicated solely to training resources that deserves a look by anyone interested in furthering their education. 

Please let me know of any other upcoming events you might know of in the comments section! Happy training!

As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, we are constantly updating My Special Education Page,My Parenting Page, and My Play Therapy Page with new articles, resources, products, multimedia and more. These are all great bookmarks for educators, parents, and therapists looking to stay abreast of news, research a particular topic, or find useful literature or organizations to hand-out or recommend to their patients. The sites have been updated regularly for over two years, so they’re teeming with valuable info. Below are the top 5 recent articles for each site. Please feel free to use the comments section to recommend a resource, article or product you don’t find. I’m always looking to expand and enrich these sites. Enjoy!

Play Therapy

More About Poverty and Children’s Mental Health by Jean Mercer, PhD, Psychology Today

The Ten Coolest Therapy Interventions by Ryan Howes, PhD, Psychology Today

Concerned parents should pencil in time for kids by Beth Gaddis (Tampa, FL)

Remembering Play by Stacy Notaras Murphy, Counseling Today

Introduction to Sandtray-Worldplay: History and Method (pdf)

Parenting

Mom’s time out great benefit to kids, too by Kellie B. Gormly, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

The Science of Success by David Dobbs, The Atlantic

What to Do if You Suspect Learning Disability by Lesley Alderman, New York Times

"I Want It Now!" How to Challenge a False Sense of Entitlement in Kids

Talking with your Children about Stress

Special Education-504

WritingDisabilities: An Overview by Charles A. MacArthur

Opinion: What Do You MEAN You're Not Going to College? by Karin Kasdin, The Faster Times

Nudging Schools to Help Students With Learning Disabilities by Walecia Konrad, New York Times

The Teacher’s Rolein Home/School Communication: Everybody Wins by Rick Lavoie

ADHD: Disorder or Difference?

ChildTherapyToys.com continues to be the number one source for child and play therapy supplies for many reasons, but chief among them is the fact that we are constantly updating our selection with the newest toys, books, and games around. Whenever a new fantastic product is developed, you can bet it’s in our stockroom. For example, My 2 Homes, a fun, engaging new game for children having difficulty dealing with their parents’ divorce, is newly available and destined to be a bestseller. In fact, we’ve already sold out of the first shipment!

 

In the past month we’ve been focusing on sand tray products. We are currently putting together an updated, 2010 edition of our wildly popular Sand Play Therapy Kits which should be available very soon. And, of course, since you can never have enough sand tray miniatures, we've added a bunch of new ones to our inventory. We've had a lot of requests for very small human figurines, so this month we've introduced a large collection of these "mini-miniatures", towering at upwards of 1.5 inches. Over the past year, we've also improved our selection of fantasy figures, such as Dragons, Faeries and Elves, Mythological Characters, and Witches and Wizards. 

It’s very satisfying for us to find fun and helpful new products and make them available for professionals and non-professionals alike. To keep everyone up-to-date on new and upcoming products we created a ChildTherapyToys newsletter. To join, just go to the homepage and enter your name and email address. And while you're at it, why not join our facebook group?       

Liana Lowenstein, MSW is the author of several books and resources that have served as great references for me over the years. Her newest installment Assessment and Treatment Activities for Children, Adolescents and Families, Volume Two is now available and is just as indispensable as her previous work. Like the first volume, this book is full of effective and practical techniques from veteran practitioners, all expertly compiled and edited by Lowenstein. This is yet another treasure trove of engaging activities and interventions aimed at assessing and treating children of all ages and their families. Many issues are addressed including Feelings Expression, Self-Esteem, Social Skills, and Termination. Volume Two is an updated best-of-the-best collection that should not be missed.       

Lowenstein's previous books are equally essential for mental health professionals. Creative Interventions for Troubled Children & Youth and MORE Creative Interventions for Troubled Children & Youth are best-selling collections filled with creative assessment andtreatment interventions to help clients identify feelings, learn copingstrategies, enhance social skills, and elevate self-esteem. Lowenstein addresses more specific issues in Creative Interventions for Bereaved Children and Creative Interventions for Children of Divorce. The former is a uniquely creative compilation of therapeutic games, art activities,and stories to help bereaved children express feelings of grief, learnbasic concepts of death, diffuse traumatic reminders, addressself-blame, commemorate the deceased, and learn coping strategies. The latter consists of therapeutic games, art techniques, andstories to help children of divorce express feelings, understandmarriage and divorce, deal with loyalty binds, parental conflict, andreunification fantasies, address self-blame, and learn copingstrategies. And of course there's the original volume of Assessment and Treatment Activities for Children, Adolescents, and Families I mentioned above.

Lowenstein has been a key player in the field of children's mental health for years and many practitioners, myself included, are always excited and intrigued by her output. The new volume of Assessment and Treatment is yet another gem and hopefully not the last in this series as our field of therapy continues to evolve.

I have been meaning to write a post in praise of Pat Palmer's and Betty L. Shondeck's wonderful books on self-esteem and bullying, and it wasn't until Psychology Today beat me to it that I was reminded. As the review suggests, there are plenty of books available on these subjects, but Palmer's simple-yet-innovative approach, together with Shondeck's charming illustrations, elevate these to "must-have" status for any child clinician.   

Liking Myself approaches issues of emotion and self-esteem with a simple philosophy: "Feelings are our good friends", and we should treat them as such. Divided into six parts ("Liking Myself", "Feelings", "Feelings Talk", "Allowing", "Body Talk", and "Letting Go"), the book gives children the tools for developing self-awareness, managing emotions, and letting go of negativity. Palmer stresses assertiveness and a healthy, attentive mind-body relationship, and reminds us that it is okay to like ourselves. This charmingly-illustrated, hand-lettered edition is loaded with ideas and exercises to improve self-esteem and well-being.

The Mouse, the Monster, and Me is an excellent companion to Liking Myself that applies Palmer's principles of assertiveness and self-appreciation to the issue of bullying. This book helps children identify passive ("mouse") and aggressive ("monster") behaviors in themselves and others, and discover their own true and assertive "me". Palmer effectively illustrates the value of knowing yourself (your strengths, rights, responsibilities, and more) in situations when you are faced with criticism and other threats to your self-esteem. This edition also includes a note to the young reader by the author.



Like all great children's books, these classics hit home for kids and adults alike. I have been using them in my practice for years and was very excited about these revised editions. Both are available at ChildTherapyToys, along with many other books on feelings/self-esteem and bullying.