Theraplay

Domain VIII · Creative & expressive arts therapies · Ann M. Jernberg, Phyllis B. Booth · 1967 · Chicago

What it is

Theraplay is a structured, adult-led, play-based treatment for a child together with a parent or carer. Ann M. Jernberg (1928–1993; PhD, University of Chicago, 1960) developed it from 1967, when she became clinical director of mental health services for Chicago Head Start. There she trained lay…

Format

• Typical course (CEBC description of the standard protocol)
• Length and frequency. Usually weekly, 45–60 minutes, shorter for younger children. More severe cases may be seen more than once a week. The number of sessions can be extended for families with greater needs. A Korean study described a typical programme as 18–24 sessions over about a year, with 4–6…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Bring parents from watching into active roles once they can describe the child's cues and stay regulated themselves.
• Version followed: Theraplay as currently taught by The Theraplay Institute (Chicago). That means the Level One Theraplay & MIM training and certification route, the Institute's core-concepts and fidelity materials, Booth & Jernberg's third edition (2010) as far as the publisher's preview shows, and Norris & Lender (2020), Theraplay: The Practitioner's Guide, which the Institute endorses. Only publisher descriptions…
• Theraplay is a structured, adult-led, play-based treatment for a child together with a parent or carer. Ann M. Jernberg (1928–1993; PhD, University of Chicago, 1960) developed it from 1967, when she became clinical director of mental health services for Chicago Head Start. There she trained lay workers, including graduate students and Head Start mothers, to work playfully with children. The method was developed…

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 intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• 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?
• 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

• Regression around the ending. Normalise it and keep the structure the same.
• Gagging, refusing, or signs of shame. Offer to switch roles at once ("You feed Dad").
• Hesitating at the door. Make the entrance smaller and quieter rather than more insistent.
• Watch closely for frustration. Make the task easier before the child fails, and avoid competition.
• Parents turning play into a demand or a test of the child's compliance. Reframe it as optional and fun.

Problems the guide addresses

• The child refuses or resists an activity
• The child becomes overwhelmed or dysregulated
• A frozen, compliant or dissociating child
• Silly, chaotic or over-excited behaviour
• Parent difficulties
• Ruptures with the child
• Older children and teenagers
• Safeguarding, mandatory reporting and the line between Theraplay and coercive "holding" or "attachment therapy"
• Materials and physical safety

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.