Eric J. Green - The Handbook of Jungian Play Therapy with Children and Adolescents

The Handbook of Jungian Play Therapy with Children and Adolescents

Eric J. Green

With a Foreword by John Allan

Note to the reader: The discussions and procedures herein are intended to acquaint readers with some of the techniques of Jungian Play Therapy that can be helpful in providing emotional and psychological care for children. It is intended to provide information to help children in general, and not to help any specific child. The views expressed are not necessarily the views of the author or of the publisher. This book is not meant to substitute for medical or psychological treatment, and treatment should not be based solely on its contents.

2014 Johns Hopkins University Press

All rights reserved. Published 2014

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Green, Eric J., author.

The handbook of Jungian play therapy with children and adolescents / Eric J. Green ; with a foreword by John Allan.

p. ; cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4214-1510-9 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN 1-4214-1510-0 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-4214-1511-6 (electronic) ISBN 1-4214-1511-9 (electronic)

I. Title.

[DNLM: 1. Play Therapymethods. 2. Adolescent. 3. Child. 4. Jungian Theory. 5. Professional-Patient Relations. WS 350.4]

RJ505.P6

616.89'1653dc23 2014004980

A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.

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He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest.
W. H. Auden

This ones for you, Paul, my great mentor.
It was the BEST time of my life.

, by John Allan

Ten years ago I was lecturing at the University of North Texas in Denton, and a young man approached me at the end of the workshop, saying he had read much of what I had published, found it inspirational, and would like to offer his services to me as a researcher and cowriter. I thanked him for his comments and generous offer and said that right now I did not need any research or writing help. I added that I thought the most important thing was for him to do his own research, on play therapy with children and families, and to write up and publish his findings. I am very pleased to say that this young man was Dr. Eric Green and that this book, The Handbook of Jungian Play Therapy with Children and Adolescents, is the fruit of the combination of his playful energy and hard work over the past ten years.

Dr. Green has written a very important bookthe first of its kind to specifically address Jungian Play Therapy with children and families. In , the theory section of the book, Dr. Green shows a deep understanding of Jungs major constructs and how they both elucidate our understanding of the psyche and facilitate treatment. He provides a clear definition of terms and a discussion of four broad archetypal categories, and includes such areas as the shadow, anima-animus, the self, the ego-self axis, death-into-rebirth, and symbol amplification. He quotes from Jung and addresses issues of the transference-counter-transference and the importance of the therapist maintaining an analytical attitude throughout treatment. He pays attention to issues of time and space: the classroom, school, or community center represents ordinary time, but the playroom is the sealed vessel, the vas (the container), the place for sacred time, where the psychological transformation occurs. There are important rituals (or awareness) for entering and exiting this sacred space (the temenos) with the child and family members. Dr. Green shows how, through play and fantasy enactment in the playroom, emotions are expressed physically and/or symbolically, wounds are healed, and the child and family are freed of trauma, neglect, or developmental blocks to move forward and to grow.

What is impressive about this book is the sheer range of children, adolescents, families, and situations that Dr. Green has worked with. This book is truly a Handbook of Jungian Play Therapy with Children and Adolescents! His cases cover many childhood struggles and situations, including physical and sexual abuse, depression, bereavement, autism, witnessing of violence, ADHD, daydreaming, self-injurious behavior, and children and families affected by such natural disasters as flooding, hurricanes, and tornadoes.

The book will be very useful to many students and practitioners, because Dr. Green has been trained and is experienced in a wide range of theories and techniques. He integrates these in an overall Jungian frame that makes the new learning accessible to many therapists. One clearly sees how Dr. Green considers himself part of a team of mental health workershe consults with parents, teachers, and psychologists and articulates a treatment plan for each child and family. He uses evidence-based research findings to inform his practice. He sees the child alone in the playroom but then, when appropriate, incorporates parents and at times teachers in the room at later dates. He is not rigid or dogmatic but rather lets the child and the situation direct the flow of treatment. Dr. Green clearly enjoys children and has a very soulful practice.

The book is replete with useful symbolic activities to use with children, adolescents, and parents. As Dr. Green explains, the symbol contains emotions, and as the symbol evolves through play, so does the childs inner emotional world, and children begin to develop a rich internal life, which in turn facilitates learning, attending to schoolwork, and making friends. We see patterns in childrens play, movement from chaos to struggle, and finally resolution. At this point play therapy is no longer necessary and the child terminates treatment, often with a statement like I dont think I need to come and see you anymore.

The childs self-healing and creativity are encouraged through engagement in a variety of expressive arts techniques, including such therapist-suggested activities as coloring a mandala, sand worlds, directed and spontaneous drawings, self-portraits, journals and letter writing, guided imagery (including My Guardian Spirit), playing calming music tapes, and the reading of stories, myths, and fairy tales. Dr. Green selects the activities based on the psychological makeup of the child. For example, with a child who has Aspergers who spent a lot of time looking at himself in the mirror, he chose to read and discuss the Greek myth of Echo and Narcissus and then asked the child to sand a picture from the story. As the child worked in the sand, he made a spontaneous statement: Me and him both like mirrors. This timely intervention (the reading of the myth and the sand activity) opened up a whole new part of the child, which enabled him to disclose to Dr. Green and to change outside of the playroom with family members and other children.

In this case study and others throughout the book, Dr. Green gives many examples of his responses to and interpretations of the childs struggles. The reader becomes aware of Dr. Greens ability to empathically mirror the deeper emotions of the children and to provide the words and language to help children understand themselves and move forward into new growth. These are important counseling skills to demonstrate, so that readers are left with a new set of constructs and verbal skills for their own use. But at the same time, as shown in many of the cases, Dr. Green also models the ability of the therapist to remain silent and to witness the unfolding of the childs psyche without the distraction of words and interpretations.