Virginia Mae Axline - Play Therapy - The Inner Dynamics of Childhood

THE INNER DYNAMICS OF CHILDHOOD

Virginia Mae Axline

DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY
COUNSELOR, COUNSELING CENTER
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY

Carl R. Rogers

MISS AXLINE has written a penetrating and helpful book regarding the therapeutic possibilities of play and group activities. It is directed especially to teachers and workers in schools, but group workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, and case workers will also profit from a thorough study of the principles she enunciates and the techniques she advocates.

There are many levels on which this book may be appreciated. On the surface it is an account of the way in which a teacher has come to function as a therapist, to release the curative forces which exist within each individual. It tells how, through skillfully conducted play therapy and group therapy, warped and maladjusted youngsters find the capacity to look squarely at themselves, to accept themselves, and to work out a constructive adjustment to the difficult reality in which they live. It tells how dolls and puppets and nursing bottles and guns and modeling clay and paints and water can all become vivid performers in this drama of growth.

It is an intensely practical book, never content with generalized statements but giving specific instances and illustrations of the way in which attitudes and principles may be implemented in the play contacts. The worker who wants to know How do you do it? will find ample material in these pages to answer this question.

Yet this book is much more than this, much more than a cold analysis of a therapeutic process, much more than a body of practical suggestions. The suspicion will grow in the readers mind, as he comes to know Emma and Tom and Ernest, and the other living youngsters who inhabit this book, that he has found the doorway to the inner world of childhood, about which so much has been written, but which is so rarely discovered. Here are children seen from the inside, their fears, their deep-felt needs, their bitter hatreds, their outgoing affection, their desire to be larger in spirit as well as bodyhere are children as they are. The overpowering impression gained from reading the rich mine of verbatim case material is that here we see disclosed, slowly in some cases, more rapidly in others, the childs real self. If the reader can go through this material without at times finding a strange lump in his throat then he is made of different clay than the writer of this introduction. The strength in face of difficulty, the honesty in looking at themselves, the vital desire for maturity which these problem children show, is a challenge to all of us.

Mind you, it is not the authors primary purpose thus to reveal the inner dynamics of childhood, or the dynamics of adult life which also become evident. And because this comes as a by-product, it is all the more convincing. Although this book is written in simple language, great chunks of it being quoted directly from the children themselves, and though technical terms are refreshingly few, and a delightful sense of humor is woven through it like a bright pattern, it is nevertheless a profound book. It will make the reader think deep thoughts and it will raise deep and disturbing questions in his mind. Why is our education so stultifying and blind, when children themselves are so rich? Why is mankind so fearful of spontaneity, when spontaneous expression leads so quickly to responsible growth? How can teachers and parents be helped to see the resources of personality which exist in each child? Why do we lack confidence in the future, when strong and constructive social forces may be released in the individual by adhering to a few basic principles? These are some of the issues which the thoughtful reader will be bound to consider.

Some will read this book and say, It cant be true. Children are not like this. Bad children do not have within them the positive forces that are shown here. The whole thing is too good to be true! To such skeptics I can only say that results such as are portrayed in this book do occur when the principles which are set forth are faithfully followed. Not only can I vouch for the fact that Miss Axline achieves such results, but that many others without as much native tolerance, without such an intuitive understanding, can also achieve such outcomes. I might also suggest the final and conclusive testthat the skeptic try to put these principles into practice himself, and closely observe developments. Even though the therapy is carried on in blundering fashion because of the skepticism, there are likely to be highly rewarding experiences. School would become a very different institution, with markedly different effects upon the child, if even a few teachers undertook to deal with youngsters in the manner described in the chapters which follow.

CARL R. ROGERS

IT HAS BEEN the privilege of the writer to study with Dr. Carl R. Rogers and to have had the opportunity of working with him in the exploratory and developmental study of the tremendous possibilities of the non-directive therapeutic techniqueor the Rogerian technique as it is commonly known among Dr. Rogers associates.

Dr. Rogers is an inspiring teacher, and the writer is indebted to him for his encouragement to explore further the possibilities of the non-directive technique and to publish the results of the experimental work that was done under his supervision.

The writer wishes to express her gratitude and appreciation to Dr. Rogers, as it was through his patient reading and constructive criticism of the manuscript that this book has emerged as a presentation of the implications of the non-directive process for play therapy and for the field of education.

The writer also wishes to extend her appreciation to the physicians, agencies, parents, matrons, and school people whose co-operative referrals made it possible to obtain the participation of the children whose cases are herein reported.

Lastly, the writer wishes to express her gratitude to those children who accepted the therapeutic experience as a challenge and utilized the experience so fully.

VIRGINIA MAE AXLINE

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

THE DISTRAUGHT TEACHER hurried down to the principals office a few agitated steps ahead of Tom, who followed with sullen resentment.

Wait out here, she informed him crisply, while she went in, on a teachers priority, to present her complaint to the principal. This defiant, disobedient twelve-year-old boy was driving her to distraction. He kept the class in a constant state of turmoil. He was continually reminding her that she was just a substitute teacher and remarking that no one could boss him around.

Tom was bright enough to do satisfactory school work, but he refused to apply himself to the assignments. If he had his way he would read all the time. He resented criticism. He was antagonistic toward the other childrencomplained that they picked on him.

And now the group had just come in from recess and there had been another fight. Tom said the boys had all ganged up on him; and the boys said that Tom had spit on the American flag. When they had returned to the classroom, Tom showing signs of having been severely beaten by the gang, the teacher had reprimanded them for fighting on the playground. The other boys had said they were sorry and had related the flag episode. But Tom had glared at her in defiance, had swept his book off his desk with a gesture of utter contempt and anger, and had said, Ill do as I please!