Play Therapy Book Tests

Earn non-contact continuing education credit by completing book tests based on play therapy publications.

ATTENTION: The fee below only includes CE test; book must be purchased separately. 

Continuing Education

NBCC. The Association for Play Therapy (APT) has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 5636. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. APT is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

APT. The Association for Play Therapy (APT) offers continuing education specific to play therapy. APT Approved Provider 95-100 maintains responsibility for the program.

A Handbook of Play Therapy with Aggressive Children

Credits: None available.

Written by two authors with a combined experience of more than fifty years in the residential treatment of severely aggressive-and often traumatized-children, this book has proven invaluable to new as well as seasoned child practitioners. The chapters cover the nuts and bolts of play therapy with this extremely challenging clinical population, including the therapeutic alliance, aims of play therapy with aggressive children, setting limits on destructive and obtrusive behaviors, typical play themes of aggressive children, and developing distancing and displacement through playful action and through teaching, modeling, and structuring action play. Other chapters cover such topics as: how to create more mature defenses and calming strategies; the role of interpretation; the use of spontaneous drawings as a bridge to fantasy play; specific drawing techniques to create access to the inner world of children; how to teach and model pro-social skills and the language of feeling; and how to facilitate affect expression and modulation, contained reenactment of trauma, and children's ability to mourn tangible as well as intangible, unacknowledged and invisible losses. Later chapters cover the therapeutic process and techniques to facilitate termination. The authors introduce the Play Therapy Decision Grid, which is intended to guide the therapist into the levels of therapy best suited for the child at any given point based on the child's resources and the anxiety engendered by the therapy.

• Seminal / Historically Significant Theories
• Skills and Methods
• Special Topics
  

• List at least three specific anger modulation strategies.
• Describe three specific ways to counter devaluation.
• List three specific strategies to address the hidden losses suffered by many aggressive and violent children.
• Explain clinical considerations regarding contained trauma re-enactments.
• Discuss common countertransference feelings aroused in work with aggressive children.
• List the two tracks of the Play Therapy Decision Grid.
• Use techniques to access the inner world of the child.
• Describe at least 5 specific strategies to work through termination issues.

• David Crenshaw
• John B. Mordock

A Manual of Dynamic Play Therapy: Helping Things Fall Apart, the Paradox of Play

Credits: None available.

Children will experience natural growth and change throughout their lives. Play, by its very nature, always results in things falling apart, often literally, and children generally find satisfaction in this process of collapse and renewal. This book harnesses the power of the reorganizing process to elicit positive and profound change in children dealing with social, neurological, developmental, health and family issues. The author clarifies the theory behind this innovative play therapy approach, and explains its practical application to a full spectrum of client needs, using inspirational, real-life anecdotes as examples. He also describes the importance of using symbols in play therapy and focuses on ways to enable children to act out their internal aggression in a safe and healthy manner. This will be essential reading for play therapists and other professionals working therapeutically with children and their families.

• Skills and Methods

• Explain the paradox of play.
• Describe various play materials that support the therapeutic healing of aggression in play.
• Critique dynamic play therapy and how the falling apart of the play can lead to profound healing in a child.
• Discuss the importance of symbols in play.

• Dennis McCarthy

ADAPT: A Developmental, Attachment-based, Play Therapy

Credits: None available.

This manual was created to provide child and family-focused mental health professionals with information and techniques on how to address common emotional and behavioral problems exhibited by young school-age children (ages 6-9) with developmental trauma difficulties and other trauma-induced attachment difficulties. Children who have been exposed to traumatic experiences early in life tend to develop cognitive, affective, and behavioral coping strategies based on their memories, fantasies, and previous relationships within their history. As indicated above, research has demonstrated that neurological chemistry and brain development are significantly altered when trauma occurs in early childhood, leading to a biological response to events that are perceived as threatening. This further exacerbates the child’s learned methods of coping. The focus of this manual is to provide practical and effective interventions for use within a ten-week group that can be easily modified for use within individual and family sessions. In addition, this manual emphasizes working with the parents and/or caregivers of these young children, as they are instrumental in resolving and healing issues of attachment and trauma, as well as other emotional and behavioral issues.

Play Therapy Primary Areas:

• Seminal / Historically Significant Theories
• Skills and Methods
• Special Topics

• Describe 4 skills utilized in the ADAPT model
• Identify 3 goals of the ADAPT model
• Describe 7 roles of an ADAPT therapist

• Jennifer Lefebre, PsyD, RPT-S

Advanced Play Therapy: Essential Conditions, Knowledge, and Skills for Child Practice

Credits: None available.

Current play therapy resources offer details on how to conduct play therapy, but are limited in addressing the challenges that develop when therapists conduct play therapy with real-life clients. Using the Child-Centered Play Therapy Approach, Ray has written the first book to address these complex play therapy subjects. Topics covered include: integrating field knowledge of play, development, and theory into the advanced play therapist’s knowledge base; working with difficult situations, such as limit-setting, aggression, and parents; addressing modern work concerns like measuring progress, data accountability, and treatment planning; differentiating play therapy practice in school and community settings; and addressing complicated skills, such as theme work, group play therapy, and supervision. Ray also includes her Child Centered Play Therapy Treatment Manual, an invaluable tool for any play therapist accountable for evidence-based practice. This manual can also be found on the accompanying CD, along with treatment plan, session summary, and progress-tracking worksheets.

• Seminal / Historically Significant Theories
• Skills and Methods
• Special Topics
  

• Recite when, why and how to set limits for children in a play room.
• Describe key characteristics of effective play therapists.
• Explain the historical and religious influences upon the nature and development of play.
• Discuss the various stages of child development from the perspectives of leaders in the field.
• Compare play therapy practice in schools to play therapy in community settings.
• Describe the five properties of play.
• Identify common themes in play therapy.

• Dee C. Ray, PhD, LPC-S, NCC, RPT-S

Animal Assisted Play Therapy

Credits: None available.

This book is the culmination of the authors combined 75 years of experience working with animals as a part of their therapeutic practice. Professional practitioners, as well as the paraprofessionals who work in tandem with them, will find this book of enormous value. While the focus is on mental health professionals, the approach and methods covered can easily be adapted for use by allied health professionals, such as physical, occupational, speech, and recreational therapists as well as those in the educational field such as teachers and school counselors. Animal Assisted Play Therapy™ (AAPT) adds the elements of playfulness, humor, and lightness to the therapeutic process, and can be helpful for clients of all ages. It focuses heavily on relationships: how the relationship between therapist and animal must be developed in positive, mutually respectful ways in which the animals have a voice and choice whenever possible. This in turn provides a model for clients to help them strengthen their own relationships, not only with therapy animals and their own companion animals, but within the human relationships in their families and communities. The authors demonstrate how the techniques can be readily applied for dogs, horses, cats, and other animals. Many illustrative case examples are included.

• History
  
• Seminal / Historically Significant Theories
• Skills and Methods
• Special Topics
  

• Review the historical and theoretical background of Animal Assisted Play Therapy and animal types and characteristics most often utilized
• Address common misconceptions regarding the use of animals in therapeutic settings
• Identify the training requirements/ethical considerations required to become an Animal Assisted Play Therapist
• Develop an understanding of the unique characteristics which define and structure the therapist/animal relationship
• Identify how AAPT is beneficial with culturally diverse populations for assisting with child, adult and family constellation and needs
• Identify non-directive and directive Play Therapy interventions most commonly used in AAPT

• Rise VanFleet
• Tracie Faa-Thompson

Applications of Family and Group Theraplay

Credits: None available.

Applications of Family and Group Theraplay is rich in content and practical ideas guided by current research in attachment and neurobiological research. Most chapters are illustrated with a case study, including agendas from beginning, middle, and end sessions with an extensive appendix describing each activity, to help translate theory into practice. Theraplay, a research based therapeutic model that has gained increasing attention worldwide, is described in this book from its theory (based on attachment theory), research, to its underlying dimensions (structure, challenge, engagement, nurture) applied to a wide diversity of populations and formats. The book describes activities that have underlying goals of increasing parental attunement, creating a caring, accepting environment and co-regulating the child. It replicates normal parent/child interactions that are playful, physical, and fun. Applying Theraplay to a wide variety of populations (dysregulated, resistant, aggressive, impulsive, adopted, autistic, traumatized) and cultures (Aboriginals, American, Asian, German, Finnish) is included, as well as integrating Theraplay with other treatment methods. It also describes group Theraplay with father/son dyads and with troubled adolescents and offenders. This book will not only lead to a greater understanding of Theraplay, but will also stretch the reader's skills in the application of this very effective play therapy model.

• History
  
• Seminal / Historically Significant Theories
• Skills and Methods
• Special Topics
  

• Present an overview of the main tenants of Theraplay.
• Explain applications of Theraplay to a wide variety of populations including those coming from cross cultural contexts.
• Describe case studies illustrating the beginning, middle and end sessions of Theraplay.
• Discuss modifications of Theraplay integrating other treatment modalities.
• Illustrate family and group Theraplay formats as a way of enhancing parent/child attachments.
• Describe the sequential nature of brain development.
• Compare traditional play therapies with Theraplay.

• Evangeline Munns, PhD, CPsych. RPT/S, CAPT/S, TTI/S, Theraplay Institute

Art, Play, and Narrative Therapy: Using Metaphor to Enrich Your Clinical Practice

Credits: None available.

Moschini (2019) eloquently illustrated the numerous benefits of metaphor, story-telling, sandtray, and the use of art. She provided well-defined techniques that were easily understood for the novice to the seasoned play therapist. Additionally, she described the play therapy techniques thoroughly and offered visual representations to tap into auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learning. The book also offers best practices for play therapists when considering treatment planning by evaluating the client’s response mode (e.g., visual, auditory, kinesthetic, or tactile), reaction (e.g., what they observe, what they are told, feelings in the body, and what they experience), and lastly, the learning process (e.g., feeling, listening, moving, and doing, Moschini, 2019; Table 1.1, p. 15). By considering these specific modes of communication a play therapist can better tailor not only the treatment plan, but the play therapy methods and modalities to work more effectively with youth clients. The creative use of art in both a group setting and individually to work on anger, grief, and loss is also addressed. Overall, this book is an easy read that is rooted in research, and supplies a plethora of hands-on techniques that are play therapy practice ready.

Play Therapy Primary Areas:

• Skills & Methods

• Analyze the use of metaphors as a mode of communication to explain internal bothers in the form of external representations in a play therapy setting
• Identify the impact of one’s developmental stage which also includes their relationships, identity formation, personality, moral development, and the deficits in development as a way to process presenting symptomology.
• Compare the different theoretical orientation’s view of the use of creative arts in a play therapy setting with clients.
• Demonstrate the power of therapeutic storytelling, myth, metaphors, and the characters in between that provide a less threatening way for client’s to explore their issues and try out new skills.
• Utilize sandtray and the miniatures as way to process internal conflicts through external representations, which may also create a safe distance to the issue discussed.
• Explains creative and art-based ways to effectively process anger and grief with loss in both an individual play therapy session and within the group process.

• Lisa B. Moschini, LMFT

Attachment Centered Play Therapy 

Credits: None available.

Attachment Centered Play Therapy offers clinicians a holistic, play-based approach to child and family therapy that is presented through the lens of attachment theory. Along the way, chapters explore the theoretical underpinnings of attachment theory to provide a foundational understanding of the theory while also supplying evidence-based interventions, practical strategies, and illuminative case studies. This informative new resource strives to combine theory and practice in a single intuitive model designed to maximize the child-parent relationship, repair attachment wounds, and address underlying symptoms of trauma.

Play Therapy Primary Areas:

• Special Topics

• Analyze attachment theory as it applies to play therapy to provide integrated therapeutic treatment.
• Evaluate the four key concepts of attachment theory and how these concepts apply to attachment centered play therapy.
• Analyze various family systems through the lens of attachment theory to strengthen clinical assessment skills.
• Conceptualize attachment patterns that impact parent-child relationships to further advance your play therapy practice.
• Implement play therapy interventions to foster engagement with parents in family play therapy in order to repair and enhance the parent-child relationship.
• Determine the developmental stages of attachment needs and behaviors to identify most appropriate attachment-based play therapy interventions with children and families.

• Clair Mellenthin, MSW, LCSW, RPT-S, Wasatch Family Therapy | University of Southern California

Child-Centered Play Therapy

Credits: None available.

Highly practical, instructive, and authoritative, this book vividly describes how to conduct child-centered play therapy. The authors are master clinicians who explain core therapeutic principles and techniques, using rich case material to illustrate treatment of a wide range of difficulties. The focus is on non-directive interventions that allow children to freely express their feelings and take the lead in solving their own problems. Flexible yet systematic guidelines are provided for setting up a playroom; structuring sessions; understanding and responding empathically to children's play themes, including how to handle challenging behaviors; and collaborating effectively with parents.

Play Therapy Primary Areas:

• History
• Seminal / Historically Significant Theories
• Skills and Methods

• Explain the background and relevance of CCPT.
• Discuss CCPT Techniques and playroom logistics.
• Describe how to appropriately involve parents and school personnel.
• Recite the appropriate ways to handle and document touch in CCPT.
• Discuss studies which show empirical support for CCPT and FT.

• Rise VanFleet
• Andrea Sywulak
• Cynthia Sniscak

Child-Centered Play Therapy: A Practical Guide to Developing Therapeutic Relationships with Children

Credits: None available.

Child-Centered Play Therapy: A Practical Guide to Developing Therapeutic Relationships with Children offers how-to direction and practical advice for conducting child-centered play therapy. Filled with case studies, learning activities, and classroom exercises, this book presents extensive coverage of play therapy applications such as setting goals and treatment planning, as well as recommendations for family and systemic services that can be provided along with play therapy.

• History
  
• Seminal / Historically Significant Theories
• Skills and Methods

• Identify Axline's eight CCPT principles
• List the 3 steps in setting therapeutic limits.
• Discuss the four types of questions children may ask in play therapy sessions and whether or not and how to respond to them.
• Identify the criteria for selecting toys to include in the playroom.
• Discuss the importance of the therapeutic relationships with children
• Identify the ""ideal therapist qualities"" for a therapist using CCPT

• Jeff L. Cochran, PhD
• Nancy J. Cochran, MS/CAS School Psychology, LMHC
• William Nordling, PhD, RPT-S