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Many questions are often raised in regard to psychotherapy with preschool children. Do children simply grow out of problem behaviors, or are some behaviors pathological? Can preschool-age children be reliably diagnosed with disorders listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text revision [DSM-IV-TR]; American Psychiatric Association, 2000)? How does one accurately assess symptoms in a child who may have limited language and reporting skills? How does the family's involvement affect the child's treatment? Are there any evidence-based treatments available for children of this age group In this chapter, we review these and other clinical and developmental issues relevant to therapeutic interventions for the preschool-age child that all child therapists need to keep in mind when offering services to young children and their families. CLINICAL ISSUESThe clinical issues covered here include the prevalence of psychopathology in young children, barriers to treatment, diagnostic and assessment issues, and parent involvement in treatment.

Doll play has long been a part of children's lives and cultures. From early Victorian era wives collecting and creating family lives in miniature as a way to showcase wealth to rural children in the 1800s covering corncobs in scraps of fabric (e.g., Laura Ingalls Wilder's first doll in 1871; Wilder, 2016) to children in the 2000s connecting mechanical dolls to computers to update their capabilities, dolls are known in many formats and serve multiple functions.Dolls come in many types, including baby dolls, plush dolls (both human and animal), worry dolls, and anatomically correct and specific dolls. They have been used in home, school, and therapeutic settings to encourage children's sense of self, teach nurturance, gain insight into children's thoughts and emotions, assess aggression, support sexual abuse disclosures, reduce anxiety related to medical procedures, and learn about familial relationships. Considerable research supports the use of dolls to reduce anxiety and cognitive disturbances for people dealing with dementia, but for the purposes of this chapter, only doll play with children is discussed.