A agressividade na infância tem sido apontada em pesquisas longitudinais como precursora da delinqüência na adolescência e da drogadependência na idade adulta. Sendo a infância um período mais propício a mudanças, procurou-se realizar intervenções em crianças apontadas por professores como muito agressivas no ambiente escolar. Neste trabalho, buscou-se estudar o processo ludoterapêutico a que foi submetida uma criança agressiva do sexo masculino, enfocando-se os fenômenos contratransferenciais. Foram realizados atendimentos semanais em uma sala com material lúdico específico para esta intervenção, ao longo de aproximadamente dois anos. Observou-se mudanças internas importantes na criança, sendo capaz de lidar melhor com perdas e de aceitar limites na relação com o outro. O que ampliou sua capacidade de relacionamento humano no âmbito social e escolar. No entanto, em muitos momentos, o contato com este menino foi angustiante e confuso para o terapeuta, em especial nas ocasiões em que a criança se mostrava muito agressiva. Ao término do processo psicoterápico, buscou-se compreender estas vivências angustiantes e confusas experimentadas durante os atendimentos. O que poderiam ser tais eventos e que sentidos teriam? Para abordar estas questões, utilizou-se, em especial, os referenciais teóricos de Melanie Klein, Donald Winnicott e Pierre Fédida, para abordar a agressividade e o processo transferencial/contratransferencial. Estes estudos puderam esclarecer o fato de que a intensidade e a violência do processo transferencial podem interromper a capacidade receptiva da contratransferência, ou seja, a possibilidade de ressonância, a abertura ao novo e ao inesperado e a possibilidade de linguagem do terapeuta nas sessões. E que a força desta transferência pode encontrar eco nos próprios conflitos inconscientes do terapeuta. Deixa-se como questão para futuros estudos, a hipótese de que o ataque à capacidade receptiva da contratransferência seja algo freqüente no trabalho clínico com uma criança agressiva e que este ataque possa se dar pela dificuldade de elaboração de lutos e de angústias depressivas. / Aggressiveness in childhood has been pointed in longitudinal researches as precursor of delinquency during adolescence and drug addiction in adult age. Based on the fact that childhood is the fase of human development most likely to the occurence of changes, children who were considered aggressive by their teachers were submitted to interventions in the school environment. In the present study, the research was focused in the play therapy process to which an aggressive male child was submitted and its countertransference phenomena. Weekly sessions were held in a room equipped with specific playing material to this kind of intervention. The psychotherapy process lasted aproximatedly two years. Important internal changes were observed in the child, who was able to deal better with losses and accept limits on the relation with others. These changes improved his potential of establishing human relations in social environment, specially in school. Nevertheless, in many occasions, the therapist felt some kind of anxiety and confusion during his contact with the boy, more specifically in the moments when the child showed aggressive behavior. At the end of the psychotherapy process, an effort of understanding these anxious and confusing experience, which occurred during the sessions, was made. What sort of events those could be? What are their meanings, what sense could they make? In order to approach these questions, it was used theoretical references of some authors, such as Melanie Klein, Donald Winnicott and Pierre Fédida, focusing the aggressiveness and the transference/countertransference process. These studies were able to show clearly the fact that the intensity and the violence of the transferential process can interrupt the receptive capacity of countertranference, which can be exposed as the possibility of resonance, the opening to the new and unexpected and the possibility of the therapists language during the sessions. Also, the power of this transference can find echoes on the therapists own unconscious conflicts. The questions left for future studies are based on the hypothesis that the attack to the receptive capacity of countertransference happens frequently in an aggressive childs clinical treatment, and this attack can arise from the difficulty of working over mourning and depressive anxiety.

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Play therapy techniques are expanding out of a need to provide effective, age appropriate and multicultural interventions to children and youth with behavioral, emotional, and environmental concerns. Traditional therapies which require verbalization have had limited application when working with children because of the language development of children (Carmicheal, 2006). School counselors work in a school system serving hundreds of students with limited time and resources to do so. With responsibilities and complex issues mounting, play therapy offers tried and true, concise, easy to use and implement techniques. Come learn about play therapy and basic play therapy skills!

Play therapy is a growing area of interest and is a specific type of intervention that requires training and supervision to be implemented effectively. Play therapy continues to grow out of a need to provide effective, age appropriate, and multicultural interventions to children. In response to the heightened interest, universities are offering courses and supervision experience in play therapy. The goal of this program is to provide participants with specific ideas and materials for planning and implementing their own successful play therapy training intensive.

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While play therapy is primarily used with children, recent research has begun to explore the use of this approach with adults and the elderly. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe in detail the process of Client Centered Play Therapy (CCPT) with an elderly assisted living facility resident through use of a qualitative case study. A single elderly resident participated in 12 CCPT sessions over a period of six weeks. Qualitative data were obtained through observational session notes, pre- and post-treatment interviews with the resident and the facility’s Licensed Practical Nurse, pre- and post-treatment administrations of the Geriatric Depression Scale, and review of the resident’s case file in order to gain insight into the process of CCPT with one elderly assisted living facility resident. Data collected were examined in relation to the play behaviors exhibited by the resident, typical stages of play therapy, potential therapeutic benefits, and the resident’s view of the CCPT approach. Results indicate that the play behaviors of one elderly resident were markedly similar to those of children participating in CCPT and that this may be an appropriate and enjoyable method for addressing mental health needs of the elderly. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.

The hyperactivity and antisocial behavior, of ambulatory severely retarded patients of a selected state hospital, precluded formalized rehabilitative therapy for them. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of behavior modification, through play therapy and positive reinforcement in increasing positive social interactions of the selected patients.The population for this study consisted of thirty-six patients selected from two wards of institutionalized retardates, with thirty observations made for all subjects. For the experimental subjects, the observation session procedures for sessions one through ten, and twenty-one through thirty were identical with the control group. In sessions eleven through twenty, the therapist interacted with the experimental subjects with the toys and gave verbal praise reinforcement for subjects' positive social behavior.It was concluded from this study that the toys alone produced a degree of increased positive social responses, but the greatest change of all the subjects was found for the experimental subjects, during the period of play therapy and reinforcement. This indicated that there was a degree of behavior modification from play therapy and positive reinforcement.Ball State UniversityMuncie, IN 47306