Jungian Play Therapy


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Eric J. Green writes about Jungian Play therapy in his article Traversing the heroic journey,” which appeared in the March 2010 issue of Counseling Today, published by the American Counseling Association

Here are some of his ideas:

“One of our primary tasks as child counselors is to provide an emotionally safe and protective space within a basic nondirective structure so that healing can occur. Psychic healing and maturation occur when a solid connection is maintained between the unconscious (Self) and the conscious (Ego)…this takes place when the child’s ego can cope with pain and enjoyment appropriately.

“For example, by crying when hurt, by using words and appropriate verbalizations when angry, by relying for help and by taking pleasure and experiencing warm feelings, laughter, and joy. For healthy emotional development, the ego needs to look at difficult experiences, feel the associated hurting, understand the condition, and then let go.

Jungian play therapy can be conducted individually or there can be a family play therapy session with the child’s family.

A good book on this topic is Written Paths to Healing: Education and Jungian Child Counseling, written in 1992 by John Allan and Judi Bertoia.

Book on Jungian Child Counseling


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