Creative Arts and Play Therapy for Attachment Problems

This book vividly shows how creative arts and play therapy can help children recover from experiences of disrupted or insecure attachment. Leading experts explore the impact of early relationship difficulties on children's emotions and behaviour. Rich case material brings to life therapeutic approaches that utilise art, music, movement, drama, creative writing & play. Covers ways to address attachment issues with individuals of different ages, as well as their caregivers. Clearly explains various techniques & applications for specific populations, including complex trauma survivors.

Table of Contents

I. Introduction

1. Creative Arts Therapy Approaches to Attachment Issues, Cathy A. Malchiodi
2. Play Therapy Approaches to Attachment Issues, David A. Crenshaw

II. Clinical Applications: Approaches to Working with Attachment Issues

3. Attachment Theory as a Road Map for Play Therapists, Anne Stewart, William F. Whelan, and Christen Pendleton

4. Art Therapy, Attachment, and Parent Child Dyads, Cathy A. Malchiodi

5. Music Therapy with Children with Developmental Trauma Disorder, Jacqueline Z. Robarts

6. Moving with the Space between Us: The Dance of Attachment Security, Christina Devereaux

7. The Integration of Drama Therapy and Play Therapy in Attachment Work with Traumatized Children, Eliana Gil and Teresa Dias

8. Overcoming Complex Trauma with Filial Therapy, Glade L. Topham, Rise VanFleet, and Cynthia C. Sniscak

9. Theraplay in Reunification Following Relational Trauma, Phyllis B. Booth, Sandra Lindaman, and Marlo L.-R. Winstead

10. The Creative Use of Metaphor in Play and Art Therapy with Attachment Problems, Eliana Gil

11. The Neurobiological Power of Play: Using the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics to Guide Play in the Healing Process, Richard L. Gaskill & Bruce D. Perry

III. Clinical Applications: Approaches to Working with At-Risk Populations

12. Helping Foster Care Children Heal from Broken Attachments, Athena A. Drewes

13. Chronic Early Trauma as a Childhood Syndrome and Its Relationship to Play, Steven Tuber, Kira Boesch, Jessica Gorkin, and Madeleine Terry

14. The Princess and "Dal Bhat Tarkari" Play Therapy with Children of Cross-Cultural Adoption, Henry Kronengold

15. Turning Back the Clock: Life before Attachment Trauma, David A. Crenshaw and Jennifer Lee

16. Integrated Play Therapy with Childhood Traumatic Grief, John W. Seymour

17. Mending Broken Attachment in Displaced Children: Finding "Home" through Play Therapy, Jennifer N. Baggerly and Eric J. Green

"Truly impressive. The chapters capture the power of different therapeutic techniques that involve the use of the arts and play when working with children with attachment problems. The case examples provide a revealing view of and rationale for the interventions of very talented therapists. The book is enriched by the inclusion of recent brain research to help the reader understand why these techniques are indicated. While the emphasis is on youngsters with histories of abuse and attachment problems, the therapeutic techniques described are applicable with all child patients. This is an invaluable resource for both beginning and experienced child and adolescent psychotherapists. Malchiodi and Crenshaw are to be commended for editing such a wonderful, informative book."
- Robert Brooks, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

"When children are 'captured' by living in a traumatic environment, it takes the efforts of a brave and knowledgeable therapist to help release them from their psychological bondage. This book brings that insight to fruition in an approach to attachment-focused play and arts therapy that is grounded in knowledge of developmental neuroscience, and it does so with insight and wisdom. It should be required reading for any professional who steps into the world of children exposed to the dark side of human experience."
- James Garbarino, PhD, Maude C. Clarke Chair in Humanistic Psychology, Loyola University Chicago

"This book is a gem! Integrating attachment theory, recent advances in neuroscience, and clinical wisdom, the editors have made an outstanding contribution to the field. Contributors weave together theory, research, and practice. Readers gain a deeper appreciation for the rich nuances of creative arts and play therapy as powerful means of helping survivors of attachment trauma. Every chapter contains practical techniques for addressing a wide range of therapeutic issues, and vignettes that bring the concepts to life. Clinicians of all levels of experience will find reading this book to be enlightening, moving, and inspiring."
- Lennis G. Echterling, PhD, Director and Professor of Counseling, James Madison University