Play therapy by Axline Virginia M

Author:Axline, Virginia M
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Non-Classifiable, Nonfiction - General, Play therapy, Child psychology, Ludothérapie
Publisher: New York : Ballantine Books
Published: 1976-11-13T16:00:00+00:00

Edith: Or a big lady like you.

Therapist: A little baby or a big lady like me—but not an eight-year-old girl.

Edith: Yeah. (Long silence. She sucks on the bottle with her eyes closed.) Will you get me one of these to take to bed with me at night?

Therapist: You would like to have a nursing bottle to take to bed with you. I can't get one for you, though, Edith.

Edith: Oh. I can drink on it here, huh?

Therapist: Yes. In here you can play baby as much as you like.

Edith (going over to the shelf, she gets the rattle, gets down on the floor and crawls): Dadadadada. Mamamama-mama. (She lies down on the floor and closes her eyes and drinks from the bottle until the hour is up. Then she jumps up, puts the bottle on the shelf, grins at the therapist, says good-bye, and skips happily out the door.)

Comments

Edith was referred for play therapy because of her sulkiness, disobedience, and quarrelsome attitude. Edith's problem seemed to be the need for affection and security that she did not get in this Children's Home.

This excerpt from the child's play certainly displays wishful thinking. Edith lived in the constant hope that some day someone would drive up to the Home and adopt her. (Incidentally, three months after this contact someone did adopt Edith.)

In this instance, as in many others, the use of the nursing bottle seems to imply an escape on the part of the child back into the security of the dependent baby world. The nursing bottle seems to have more general appeal than any other bit of equipment in the playroom.

Conclusions

In view of these examples, it seems logical to conclude that children do play out the feelings that are very close to them when they experience the permissiveness of the therapy hour. Of course, every minute in the

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