Theraplay®
Theraplay is a short-term, therapist-guided play therapy for children and their parent/caregivers that:
- Enhances attachment, self-esteem and trust in others through joyful engagement
- Is based on the natural patterns of healthy interaction between parent and child
- Focuses on four essential qualities found in parent-child relationships: structure, nurture, engagement and challenge
- Creates an active and empathic connection between child and parents
- Results in a changed view of the self as worthy and lovable, and of relationships as positive and rewarding
Theraplay was developed in the 1960s by Dr. Ann Jernberg, a clinical psychologist, to meet the needs of young children in the Head Start program in Chicago. Since then, Theraplay has been used internationally in a wide variety of problem situations to help:
- foster/adoptive children form secure attachments
- children who are trauma victims
- shy, withdrawn children
- overactive, controlling or aggressive children
- children with autism/PDD
- children who are mentally or physically challenged
- Head Start, preschool and other children who receive services in group settings
Theraplay: Helping Parents and Children Build Better Relationships Through Attachment-Based Play
by Ann M. Jernberg and Phyllis Booth
The Theraplay® Institute
(847) 256-7334
www.theraplay.org