Developmental Delay, Symbolic Play and Non-Directive Play Therapy

Abstract

is a Child Psychologist and Play Therapist. Her practice concentrates on play therapy for children referred by local authorities in the Hull area, including play therapy assessments for the courts. She is senior tutor on the University of York's Social Policy and Social Work Department Diploma and MA programme in nondirective play therapy, which leads to a professional qualification in play therapy.

Depression and Play in Early Childhood

“…Symbolic play may elicit negative thoughts and feelings that can be threatening for depressed children, who might have experienced uncontrollable negative events and states, as is obvious e.g. from clinical literature (Ryan, 1999). The finding in our former study that symbolic play was most inhibited in depressed children during the play narratives, where the play themes are handed by the experimenter and thus are hard to escape from for the children, is in line with this interpretation.…”

Depression markers in young children's play: a comparison between depressed and nondepressed 3‐ to 6‐year‐olds in various play situations

“…The inhibition of symbolic play in depressed children may also be explained by affect regulation problems that characterise the depressed children's functioning (Cicchetti & Toth, 1998; Field, 1992; Garber, Braaflandt, & Weiss, 1995; Kovacs, 1997; Sheeber, Allen, Davis, & Sorensen, 2000). Symbolic play may elicit negative thoughts and feelings that can be threatening for depressed children, who might have experienced uncontrollable negative events and states, as is obvious, e.g., from clinical literature (Ryan, 1999). The finding in our former study (Mol Lous et al, 2000) that symbolic play was most inhibited in depressed children during the play narratives, where the play themes are handed out by the experimenter and thus are hard to escape from for the children, is in line with this interpretation.…”

A long-term study of children with autism playing with a robotic pet

“…Non-directive play therapy for children with autism Non-directive play therapy has been largely used for children and adolescents with a wide variety of emotional and behavioural problems (Ryan, 1999;Ryan & Needham, 2001). Only recently have researchers started to investigate the feasibility of such techniques with children with autism.…”

“…e study presented in this paper shows a di erent perspective on robot-mediated therapy, which is not primarily task-oriented. It draws inspiration from non-directive play therapy (Axline, 1946(Axline, , 1947Ryan, 1999;Jose & Ryan, 2004) and, importantly, expands and formalizes the role of the experimenter in robot-assisted play. In this novel approach, the experimenter strongly encourages the child's proactivity and initiative-taking with respect to the choice of play, the rhythm of play and verbal communication.…”