Child-centred play therapy (Axline, Landreth)

Domain VIII · Creative & expressive arts therapies · Virginia Axline, Garry Landreth · 1947 · Ohio State University

What it is

What it is: a non-directive, relationship-based play intervention for children aged roughly 3 to 10 with social, emotional, behavioural or relational difficulties. The therapist gives the child a playroom with carefully selected toys and a relationship of full acceptance, empathy and genuineness.…

Format

• Format and dose (two published versions; name the one you follow):
• Clinical (CEBC description of the Ray 2011 manual): individual 45-minute sessions, weekly, for 16 to 20 weeks, plus regular parent consultations as part of the protocol.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• CCPT does not run as a sequence of planned phases with session content. The therapist's behaviour is the same in every session. What changes over time is the child's play. The structure below covers delivery format, then the stages of the child's process as the training literature describes them, then movement and ending criteria.
• Child-Centered Group Play Therapy is a separate certified format listed by UNT CPT and CEBC. It is not covered here.
• Stages of the child's process. The TAMUCC CCPT training module presents five stages without naming who first described them:

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• a child who starts to self-evaluate ("I did it!") is moving the locus of evaluation inward.
• drift into directive or teaching responses, especially with anxious parents or stuck cases.
• do not use the playroom to gather evidence. Forensic interviewing is a separate, specialist role.
• relationship bids increasing, and anger at you being expressed and survived. Both are signs of trust.
• the child correcting you is useful, so accept the correction. Do not ask questions to extend the story.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.