Solution-Focused Play Therapy

by Elizabeth Kjellstrand Hartwig

Solution-Focused Play Therapy is an essential text that blends the process of play therapy with solution-focused therapy. With a focus on child strengths and resources, this book identifies key concepts and principles in solution-focused play therapy (SFPT). The author provides neurobiological and developmental support for SFPT and guidance on how practitioners can transition from using a non-directive approach to a more directive and activity-based approach based on the developmental needs of the child. Chapters describe the 12 basic skills needed for employing this approach with children of all ages and their families. Harnessing a strengths-oriented approach, the author presents expressive ways to use key SFPT techniques, including the miracle question, scaling, finding exceptions, and end-of-session feedback. Clinicians will come away from the book with a suite of interventions, strategies, handouts, and forms that can be employed with children of all ages and their families, from strength-based assessment and treatment planning to the final celebration session.

266 pages, Hardcover

Published November 17, 2020

Reviews

[Kimberly Bega]

This book was really well-structured so that one could go in without knowing anything about the underlying theory, here called solution-focused brief therapy, and not be lost. It was a nice review for me as someone who did have a lot of exposure to that theory in grad school and who had previously attended a one-day training by the author (which is what inspired me to buy the book!). Some parts still went more in-depth than the training had allowed for due to time constraints. The book is easy to read and not dry or overly dense like one might fear a textbook outlining a new therapy approach might be. There are also a lot of practical considerations covering how to apply this theory to various aspects of the counseling or play therapy process, such as writing treatment plans and other documentation, planning for discharge (here called celebration sessions), etc.