Filial therapy is a relatively recent application that uses
play to help infants under the age of 3 as well as children up to the
age of 14, in their mental and emotional development which for some
reason, such as attachment issues, may be impaired.
Filial therapy also directly involves parent(s) and carer(s). One
approach is to provide parents/carers with basic
therapeutic play skills, however there are ethical issues to be
considered. Another approach is to train parents/carers in nurturing skills
and how to play non-directively with their children..
The social objective is to prevent unfavourable infant experiences
taking root to become deeper seated psychological problems.
See also:
Play,
Play Work,
Therapeutic Play,
Play Therapy,
Child Psychotherapy and Clinical Psychology (CPCP) &
The Play Continuum
