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“Offers resources on a significant range of crisis events….This book offers useful therapeutic intervention ideas that may be used by nearly any clinician for play therapy work with individuals, groups, or families….Offers effective ideas, resources, and specific interventions for integrating play into therapeutic work with children.”

—Journal of Psychology and Christianity


“This book is highly recommended for any counselor who works with children, not just those who specialize in crisis intervention. It gives detailed information on therapy interventions and provides many resources for further exploration.”

—Family Journal (on the third edition)


“This is an extraordinary addition to the clinical literature. The scope, breadth, and depth of the book speak volumes about the clinical expertise of the author, who is an undisputed expert in the field of play therapy....*****!”

—Doody's Review Service (on the third edition)


“As crisis and trauma increasingly intrude into the lives of children and teens, Webb and her talented team of front-line clinicians once again help us to understand these kids' needs and the value of intervention using a wide range of play and expressive media. The volume captures the ever-evolving nature of trauma, its effects on our most vulnerable populations, and, most important, how clinicians across disciplines can be of help.”

—Lawrence C. Rubin, PhD, ABPP, LMHC, RPT-S, Department of Social Sciences and Counseling, Biscayne College, St. Thomas University


“This book does an eloquent job of combining both the child and adolescent foci of the trauma experience into a digestible text and guide for practitioners. It offers a variety of effective therapeutic interventions in a format suitable for new and seasoned clinicians alike. This is a useful text for a class focusing on child or youth trauma in social work, psychology, or counseling.”

—Julie Anne Laser-Maira, PhD, MSW, LCSW, Graduate School of Social Work, University of Denver


“Rarely is such an informative book so delightful to read. Clinicians at any level of professional development will appreciate the scope and depth of this updated, timely, trauma-focused book. Readers will finish this volume with an enormous advantage in understanding not only how crises affect youth, but also how to work effectively to promote adaptive coping, positive change, and growth.”

—Janine Shelby, PhD, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles


“I teach first-year medical students in a course entitled Doctoring 1, which addresses how to create a clinical alliance under a variety of patient circumstances and conditions. Play Therapy with Children and Adolescents in Crisis, Fourth Edition, is one of the reference tools that I use to familiarize my students with the challenge of assisting vulnerable children and teenagers who may have chaotic life circumstances. This resource helps the students build empathy and understanding, and fine-tune their approach to these patients.”

—Esther Hess, PhD, Executive Director, Center for the Developing Mind, Los Angeles; Instructor, Department of Psychiatry, UCLA School of Medicine

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Table of Contents

Foreword, Lenore C. Terr, MD

I. Overview and Theoretical Foundations

1. Family and Community Contexts of Children and Adolescents Facing Crisis or Trauma, Nancy Boyd Webb

2. Differential Diagnosis in the Assessment of Children and Adolescents after Crises and Traumatic Events, Kathleen Nader

3. Play Therapy to Help Symptomatic Children and Adolescents after Crisis and Trauma, Nancy Boyd Webb & Jennifer Baggerly

II. Crises and Trauma in the Family

4. Children and Teens with Substance-Abusing Parents, Shulamith Lala Ashenberg Straussner & Robin Donath

5. Child–Parent Psychotherapy after Child Exposure to Parental Violence, Maxine L. Weinreb & Betsy McAlister Groves

6. Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Child Sexual Abuse and Exposure to Domestic Violence, Felicia R. Neubauer, Esther Deblinger, & Karin Sieger

7. Multiple Losses, Crises, and Trauma for Children in Foster Care or Residential Treatment, Athena A. Drewes

8. Disruptions and Dissolution in Foster Care and Adoption: Play and Filial Therapy to Repair Attachment Relationships, Anne L. Stewart & William F. Whelan

9. The Traumatic Aftermath of Parental Abandonment, Separation, and Divorce: Play and Family Therapy to Deal with Ongoing Crises, Pamela Dyson

10. After a Parent's Death: Group, Family, and Individual Therapy to Help Children and Adolescents, Donna L. Schuurman & Jana DeCristofaro

11. The Crisis of Parental Deployment in Military Service, Joseph R. Herzog, R. Blaine Everson, & Jennifer Taylor

12. Fostering Change When Safety is Fleeting: Expressive Therapy Groups for Adolescents with Complex Trauma, Craig Haen

III. School-Based Crisis Intervention

13. Bullying: Interpersonal Trauma among Children and Adolescents, Susan M. Swearer, Heather Schwartz, & Allen Garcia

14. Violence and Traumatic Events in Schools: Crisis Interventions with Students, Parents, and Teachers, Joshua Miller

15. Children and Adolescents with Chronic Medical Conditions: Individual and Group Helping in the School, M. Carlean Gilbert & Rana Hong

IV. Crises in the Community and World

16. The Mass Traumas of Natural Disasters: Interventions with Children, Adolescents and Families, Jennifer Baggerly & Eric J.Green

17. Court Testimony: Animal-Assisted Trauma-Informed Play Therapy to Help Traumatized Child and Adolescent Witnesses, David A. Crenshaw & Lori Stella

18. Crisis Intervention Therapy with Children, Adolescents, and Family Members After Shootings in the Community, Nancy Boyd Webb & Valerie L. Dripchak

19. Multiple Traumas of Undocumented Immigrants—Crisis Reenactment Play Therapy, Rowena Fong & Ilze Earner

V. Support for Therapists

20. Professional Self-care and the Prevention of Secondary Trauma Among Play Therapists Working with Traumatized Youth, Tina Maschi

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About the Editor

Nancy Boyd Webb, DSW, LICSW, RPT-S, is a leading authority on play therapy with children who have experienced loss and traumatic bereavement. She is University Distinguished Professor Emerita of Social Work in the Graduate School of Social Service at Fordham University, where she held an endowed Chair in Child Welfare Studies and founded the Post-Master’s Certificate Program in Child and Adolescent Therapy. Dr. Webb taught clinical practice at Fordham for 30 years. She has published numerous books on child therapy, trauma, and bereavement, including Helping Bereaved Children, Third Edition; Play Therapy with Children and Adolescents in Crisis, Fourth Edition; and Social Work Practice with Children, Fourth Edition. Dr. Webb is an active supervisor, consultant, and trainer who presents frequently at conferences in the United States and internationally. She is a recipient of honors including the Day-Garrett Award from the Smith College School for Social Work, the Clinical Practice Award from the Association for Death Education and Counseling, and the designation of Distinguished Scholar by the National Academies of Practice in Social Work.

• All titles by Nancy Boyd Webb

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Contributors

Jennifer Baggerly, PhD, Department of Counseling and Human Services,University of North Texas at Dallas, Dallas, Texas

David A. Crenshaw, PhD, Children’s Home of Poughkeepsie, Poughkeepsie, New York

Esther Deblinger, PhD, Department of Psychiatry and Child Abuse Research Education and Service (CARES) Institute, Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine, Stratford, New Jersey

Jana DeCristofaro, LCSW, The Dougy Center: The National Center for Grieving Children and Families, Portland, Oregon

Robin Donath, LCSW, Silver School of Social Work, New York University, New York, New York

Athena A. Drewes, PsyD, RPT-S, Astor Services for Children and Families, Rhinebeck, New York

Valerie L. Dripchak, PhD, LCSW, Department of Social Work, Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, Connecticut

Pamela Dyson, MA, LPC-S, RPT-S, private practice, Plano, Texas

Ilze Earner, PhD, Lois V. and Samuel J. Silberman School of Social Work, Hunter College, New York, New York

R. Blaine Everson, PhD, LMFT, Department of Counseling, Harold Abel School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Capella University, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Rowena Fong, EdD, School of Social Work, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas

Allen Garcia, BA, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska

M. Carlean Gilbert, DSW, LCSW, ACM, School of Social Work, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

Eric J. Green, PhD, Department of Counseling and Human Services, University of North Texas at Dallas, Dallas, Texas

Betsy McAlister Groves, LICSW, Department of Pediatrics, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts

Craig Haen, PhD, RDT, CGP, LCAT, FAGPA, private practice, White Plains, New York; Drama Therapy Program and Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, New York, New York; Expressive Therapies Doctoral Program, Lesley University, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Joseph R. Herzog, MSW, PhD, Department of Social Work, University of West Florida, Pensacola, Florida

Rana Hong, PhD, LCSW, RPT-S, School of Social Work, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

Tina Maschi, PhD, LCSW, ACSW, Graduate School of Social Service, Fordham University, New York, New York

Joshua Miller, PhD, School for Social Work, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts

Kathleen Nader, DSW, private practice, Cedar Park, Texas

Felicia Neubauer, MSW, LCSW, private practice, Medford, New Jersey

Donna L. Schuurman, EdD, The Dougy Center: The National Center for Grieving Children and Families, Portland, Oregon

Heather Schwartz, MA, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska

Karin Sieger, PhD, Northern Children’s Services Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Lori Stella, LCSW, Children’s Home of Poughkeepsie, Poughkeepsie, New York

Anne L. Stewart, PhD, RPT-S, Department of Graduate Psychology, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia

Shulamith Lala Ashenberg Straussner, DSW, CAS, Silver School of Social Work, New York University, New York, New York

Susan M. Swearer, PhD, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska

Jennifer Taylor, LCSW, RPT, Department of Social Work, University of West Florida, Pensacola, Florida

Nancy Boyd Webb, DSW, LICSW, RPT-S, Graduate School of Social Service, Fordham University, New York, New York; private practice, Amesbury, Massachusetts

Maxine L. Weinreb, EdD, Child Witness to Violence Project, Boston Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts

William F. Whelan, PsyD, Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia

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Audience

Play, art, and other creative arts therapists; social workers; child clinical psychologists; child psychiatrists; mental health and pastoral counselors; family therapists; and school counselors.

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Course Use

Serves as a text in graduate-level courses on play therapy, child and adolescent therapy, and social work practice with children.

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Previous editions published by Guilford:

Third Edition, © 2007
ISBN: 9781593854959

Second Edition, © 1999
ISBN: 9781572304857

First Edition, © 1991
ISBN: 9780898627602

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New to this edition:

• Expanded age range: now includes expressive therapy approaches for adolescents.
• More attention to traumatic stress reactions and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); several chapters address complex trauma.
• Extensively revised with the latest theory, practices, and research; many new authors.
• Additional topics: parental substance abuse, group work with adolescents, chronic medical conditions, animal-assisted play therapy and courtroom testimony, and more.