Play Therapy: The Art of the Relationship

by Garry L. Landreth

Play The Art of the Relationship is the newest incarnation of Garry Landreth’s comprehensive text on creating therapeutic relationships with children through play. It details the Child-Centered Play Therapy model, which stresses the importance of understanding the child’s world and perspective. This approach facilitates the play therapy process while allowing therapist and client to fully connect. Professors who have taught a course based on the previous edition will be pleased to find the core message intact, but updated with a significant body of recent research. Expanded to cover additional topics of interest, the new edition



a full chapter on current research in play therapynew sections on supervising play therapists, legal and ethical issues and multicultural concerns30 new photographs that show the author demonstrating techniques in-sessionpractical tips for working with parentsinstructions on play room set-up and materialsonline instructor resources.

The Third Edition will feel both familiar and fresh to educators and trainers who have relied on Landreth’s text for years. The guidelines, transcripts, and case examples offered help therapists govern sensitive issues at every stage of the therapeutic process, from the first meeting to the end of the relationship.

Genres: Psychology, Counselling, Nonfiction, Grad School, Social Work, School, Childrens

443 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 1991

Reviews

[Heidi]

The single best book on child-centered play therapy practice. Period.

[Michael]

I was looking for a person-centred book on child therapy and was recommended this one, and it's fantastic!

Landreth has taken Carl R. Rogers' client-centred therapeutic approach and adapted it for the largely non-verbal medium of play therapy. He clearly sets out his underpinning philosophy/theory in the opening chapters, and then clearly guides through the process of therapy with clearly described examples, suggested responses to client behaviours, and fully explained justified dos-and-don'ts. It helps that his language is direct, immediate and engaging. Reading the book is more like listening to a well-lived teacher deliver a lesson. More than once when I started to say to myself, "Yes, but what if...", and Landreth's next sentence answered my question as if in response - excellent writing!

The final chapters describe and summarise the research evidence for the effectiveness and efficacy of the approach, which has been rigorously and scientifically tried and tested. As I embark upon my children and young people practice, Landreth's book will be on of my mainstays.

[Justin Smith]

I hope to someday have even a fraction of the knowledge and expertise of Dr. Landreth. I've learned so much from this book and yet have so much left to learn.

[Lynnae]

A thorough, practical, helpful guide for child-centered play therapy that is already informing how I work with kiddos. 5 🧩🧩🧩🧩🧩

[Maggie Scott]

“If we were to allow the wonder of the life of a child to reach us fully and truly and to be our teacher, we would have to say: Thank you, child of man… for reminding me about the joy and excitement of being human. Thank you for letting me grow together with you, that I can learn again of what I have forgotten about simplicity, intensity, totality, wonder and love and learn to respect my own life in its uniqueness. Thank you for allowing me to learn from your tears and the pain of growing up and the sufferings of the world. Thank you for showing me that to love another person and to be with people, big or small, is the most natural of gifts that grows like a flower when we live in the wonder of life.”

[Maricarmen]

Hell ya we love children expressing themselves and giving children agency over their problems

[Gabriel Desjardins]

This book is a must read for all child psychologists ! It is refreshing to see an evidence-based treatment that is flexible and child-centered rather than symptoms-focused and written like a protocol. This treatment modality clearly respects the person of the child. This method seems freeing and touching, as well as respectful of the child as a whole human being. I just wonder why there is not much that was said about joining, since authenticity is so important. I also wonder if the therapist can be more than a facilitative relationship; if the therapist can be a whole relationship by being with the child by joining the play with spontaneity. Great book though, made me reflect a lot upon the way I conduct child therapy, and was helpful to understand we can be therapeutic simply by being with the child

[Emmie Bear]

Okay so I read this to prep for my case and although it was academic it was soooo good. I got through it in like 2 days. Very accessible language and actually provided great examples, scripts and activities for a new play therapist. Although it is an older book, Gary knows what he’s talking about the messages still pertain to children and CCPT today. He provides excellent explanation of shifting from other forms of therapy likeCBT or ACT to a new kind of Therapy. Definitely feel inspired by this king and stepping into my new case. Would recommend if you work with kids in general it provides a good framework for the kind of adult they need in their life

[Mary Catherine Smith]

Spent my semester reading this book and truly learning about the art of play therapy, so powerful and thankful to learn from Dr. Landreth! I can’t wait to reference this book for the rest of my career!

[Duygu Berber]

Kitabın Türkçe çevirisini okudum çok ama çok kötü. Fakat içerik olarak Harika; çocuk merkezli oyun terapisi hakkında oldukça detaylı bilgi veriyor. 5 yıldızı bu sebeple hakediyor.

[Kate]

Garry is the GOAT of play therapy

[Hailey A]

had to read this for my play, expressive arts, sand tray therapy class.

[Grady J.]

Work book. I have practiced CCPT in some fashion for 7 years now and going back to Landreth's foundational book was really special. I am so inspired and touched by how sensitive he is to children and their inner worlds. He communicates this tenderness well in the book and gives clear instruction about how to apply his model. Practicing CCPT is hard but it is so refreshing to engage with a child on their own terms in a way that is validated by your own feelings of fit and mountains of outcome research.

[Nicholas Poveda]

Perfectly details Child Centered Play Therapy. A bit repetitive but essential reading for CCPTs.

[Karen Gonzalez-Videla]

This was a very informative book. I did not know anything about child-centered play therapy before starting to read this book, which was required reading for one of my master's counseling classes. The book provides a nice introduction to this style of play therapy and I definitely recommend it to anyone interested in that area of counseling. However, I would have liked for the book to also appreciate and discuss other forms of play therapy. Even though child-centered appears to be the driving type of play therapy in the field, there are definitely other kinds that this book simply glosses over and, at times, dismisses.

[Michael Sasson]

OK. So really I want to give two ratings -- a one-star rating and a five-star rating.

First, the five star: I love that the author clearly loves and admires and respects children and is observant of both children and also sometimes-awkward therapists-in-training who spend time around children-clients. I think many kids in many situations will benefit from professionals who are trained in the methods described.

Now, the one-star: Two things :
a) A general and almost constant low-level disdain for parents (who explicitly need to be managed and not let on that the child therapist is sure that their 45 minutes each week with the kid is more valuable than the parents 24/7 (I mean, if the parents FEEL the disdain, who will bring the kid to the therapist -- this is pretty much stated outright. This is all said even though the book reports on research that describes kids do better with parents who have minimal training than with professional therapists.
b) The book offers no direction for what to do to keep children safe who are in environments where ongoing harm is being done. This is a tricky one because just living exposes people to potential trauma so I'm not talking about what to do with the kid who lives in a house with somewhat self-absorbed caregivers. But there are a bunch of situations where providing caregivers with information could make a lot of difference in protecting the kid from ongoing abuse and that isn't even taken up.

[John Hultquist]

Garry L. Landreth's Play Therapy (4th edition) is a thorough manual for CCPT. I have read many manuals on dyadic parent and child frameworks, and this one stands out. It is also one of the longest. Landreth leaves little unanswered about how a therapist implements the intervention.

Case examples, transcribed session dialogue, and Landreth's experience with practicum students and clients carry much of the book. He devotes chapters to research, ethics, problems that arise in practice, and the role of parents. I found the book less useful as an implementation guide than as an account of the importance and why therapeutic play matters for children. Play looks simple, but how a clinician moves with a child in the playroom shapes session takeaways and effectiveness.

I recommend it to students entering play therapy, caregivers weighing whether to bring their child to a play therapist, and practicing play therapists (all who could benefit with a refresher on best practices). Anyone who works and plays with children will find something worth taking away from this read.

[Peaches]

I highly recommend this book for anyone who desires to work with kids or become a parent. No, I don't think you should seek out to be a child's unsolicited therapist (especially when not trained!), but Landreth provides a compelling rationale for play being a child's natural form of communication. He includes examples of situations and writes in a way that is not off-puttingly textbook.
One of the most useful parts for readers who are not therapists, but seek to understand children more, are the areas that focus on limit setting, which I think all people could use even in adult relationships. Landreth also has useful videos on this practice if needed.
I couldn't give it 5 stars because of the punctuation issues and the repetition. He does repeat himself a lot, and repetition is not always the best way to emphasize something, especially since he also plays with italics and bolding font.
This is one book for a class that I will keep and pull out again when I want to be a parent!

[Jordan Brown]

This was an informative, straightforward book about child-centered play therapy. I found it to be an excellent introduction to the world of play therapy. I admit, I have wondered about how effective play therapy could actually be, but this book changed my mind. I have also been hugely influenced by Carl Rogers' person-centered approach, and this book helped me to understand what that looks like when working with young children.

I have had a few people tell me that learning to communicate as a play therapist is like learning a new language, and I can see what they mean now. Whereas communicating in a person-centered way with adults may come more naturally, facilitating an interaction in which the child is the leader is, unfortunately, not how how we typically interact with children. If only there were a way to get all parents to read this book.

[Anna]

This was the primary text for my play therapy elective class. It is a good overview of child-centered play therapy as practiced by professionals at the University of North Texas and other institutions that support that modality. It is written with a strong practical focus with lots of specific tips and instructions ranging from toy selection, setup of the playroom, consulting with parents, and how to be in the room with a child. I do not believe this would be a particularly interesting text to someone not in a clinical training program, but it was effective as a class textbook.

[Milan Kovačević]

Really excellent book for play therapists who want to be capable to help children to overcome some major problems in their lives, but not using some pressure, but letting children to express themselves by using their self awareness and self estimation in order to solve this problems. But actually children are not conscious that the play is used just for them to release ther feelings and to overcome their frights and so on.

[Makenzey Murr]

Read for work/CEUs for my RPT. Garry’s knowledge is inspiring, as well as, applicable and helpful. I enjoyed learning so much about CCPT. I just thought the book was a bit too repetitive and could’ve been edited down to make room for even more information (or just been shorter). I’m certain I’ll continue to come back to this constantly to reference while I’m at work.

[Emma]

Read this to complement my graduate work and to increase my understanding of play therapy as a hopeful, future play therapist. I learned a lot about this modality and felt this book gave me great foundations to speak intelligently about it as a discipline. While I took insight away, I don’t believe I’ll operate as narrowly as the author’s framework suggests.

[Pearl E]

Amazing book on the foundations of CCPT. As someone starting out this provided me with a clear, in depth understanding of what the work is like and really shaped my comprehension of how the therapist should regard the client, how the relationship should be built and how to let the client lead.
Would recommend to parents who would also want to implement these techniques with their children.

[Leah]

This book is one of the easiest academic reads. Landreth shares his first hand experiences with children in a way that reads more like a fiction book that is filled with emotion as well as wisdom. Be ready to cry as well as have a better understanding of how to not only help young humans but humans in general.

[Jacquelyn Powers]

Wonderful insight into the language of children.

A beautifully conceited book describing the need for children to be met with understanding; realizing that they verbalize best through play.

[Nicole C]

A great introduction to play therapy for clinicians. With real examples and dialogues, this book gives insight into how one actually conducts play therapy. The book is organized neatly into different sections and is very readable.

[John]

Read this book for a play therapy class. It's filled with knowledge, though it could probably have been written in 50 pages. The writing style may be a little too young-oriented. But this is a must-read for all therapists.

[amanda carlin]

I would give this 4.5 stars. This was an incredible resource for therapeutic work with children and provides many perspectives that need to be considered when working with kids and families. I’m not sure I’ll ever get certified in play therapy but I found this book very valuable for my practice

[Zoe]

3.5
Really wish play therapy was included in my general CMHC curriculum because this was so insightful! I used to think I never wanted to work with kids but I’ve loved sessions with them so far in my internship. Reading this book has added to that love and added to my confidence.