Not Everything is a Theme! Landreth Sets the Story Straight

Play Therapy Podcast

Today I'm beginning my "Summer School" Series where we are going to go back to the classical texts of child-centered play therapy.

In this episode, I dive into the challenges of truly understanding the meaning behind children's play, and the importance of grounding our work in the original theories and principles of child-centered play therapy. I share some passages from the seminal book "Innovations in Play Therapy" by Garry Landreth that offer valuable insights.

A key takeaway is that we need to be cautious about jumping to label everything a child does as representing a "theme." For something to truly be a theme, it needs to recur multiple times within or across play sessions. Just because a child does something once, like burying a toy, doesn't automatically indicate a "theme of permanence." We have to observe the play over time.

I also discuss how having knowledge of typical child development is critical for play therapists to determine if a child's play is normative or indicates something more significant going on under the surface. Some play is symbolic rather than thematic.

My goal with this episode and series is to help bring us back to the roots and core intentions of the child-centered model. I believe we need to deeply understand the "why" behind what we do as play therapists and not dilute the child-centered model as it gains in popularity. I hope these insights from a leader in the field like Landreth are helpful reminders of what's most important in our work! As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Episode Reference: Landreth, G. L. (Ed.). (2001). Innovations in play therapy: Issues, process, and special populations. Brunner-Routledge.

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• Common References: Cochran, N., Nordling, W., & Cochran, J. (2010). Child-Centered Play Therapy (1st ed.). Wiley.
• VanFleet, R., Sywulak, A. E., & Sniscak, C. C. (2010). Child-centered play therapy. Guilford Press.
• Landreth, G. L. (2002). Play therapy: The art of the relationship (2nd ed.). Brunner-Routledge.
• Bratton, S. C., Landreth, G. L., Kellam, T., & Blackard, S. R. (2006). Child parent relationship therapy (CPRT) treatment manual: A 10-session filial therapy model for training parents. Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
• Benedict, Helen. Themes in Play Therapy. Used with permission to Heartland Play Therapy Institute.