Abstract
A play is referred to the language of children through which they express and communicate their feelings, thoughts, and behavior in a playful way. Play therapy enables children to gain an understanding of themselves and the world around them and helps them to overcome behavioral, emotional, social, and various other issues through play activities. The chapter majorly focuses on the effectiveness of play therapy in different neurodevelopmental disorders. Recent trends and studies suggested that play therapy is one of the most favored therapeutic approaches used in the children with various neurodevelopmental disorders.
TopDefinitions Of Play And Play Therapy
Play provides a developmentally responsive means for expressing thoughts and feelings, exploring relationships, make sense of experiences, disclosing wishes, and developing coping strategies. (Landreth, 2002)
“For children, play is the natural, spontaneous, and comfortable medium through which children express themselves” (Axline, 1947).
Play therapy is a developmentally-sensitive intervention to help the children with significant emotional problems. It:
is a well thought-out, philosophically conceived, developmentally-based, and research-supported method of helping children cope with and overcome the problems they experience in the process of living their lives. (Landreth, 1996)
Play Therapy is defined as:
the systematic use of a theoretical model to establish an interpersonal process wherein trained play therapists use the therapeutic powers of play to help clients prevent or resolve psychosocial difficulties and achieve optimal growth and development. (Association for Play Therapy, 2011)
Key Terms in this Chapter
Mad Game: It is designed to provide awareness to the children with anger suggesting that anger is a primary emotion which is easily acceptable.
Non-Directive Play Therapy: It is a psychological intervention method used to help children communicate their inner experiences through the use of toys and play.
Play: It is a physical or mental activity that engages the individual either for enjoyment or recreation.
Neurodevelopmental Disorders: It is a group of disorders that occur during the developmental period and affects all the developmental aspects of the child such as communication, cognition, social, etc.
Feeling Word Game: It allows children to express and connect their emotions and feelings in a non-fearful and non-threatening way.
Play Therapy: It is a form of psychological intervention where the play is used as a medium to help children to express or communicate their feelings.
Bubble Breaths: It is a technique of relaxation which involves teaching children deep and controlled breathing to make them aware regarding their body and mind connections.