Abstract

Identity is formed through the narration of experience, and children who experience difficult life events may need help in forming and expressing their own narratives. Play therapy can be a very appropriate way of facilitating this kind of expression. This book describes the work of nine play therapists through the narratives of children - and some adults - whose stories emerge during their play therapy sessions.

These stories are not direct accounts of real happenings but are imaginative, metaphorical, complex and multi-layered. The life events they relate to include fostering, long-term illness, and the traumatic death of a close adult. One chapter examines attachment in families and another describes the Biography Laboratory project exploring story creation through action research. This is a book in which professionals from many disciplines will find much to further their understanding of children's experiences and understanding of the world.