An experiment with play therapy

Smith LF. (1977). An experiment with play therapy. The American Journal of Nursing. 77 (12), 1963-5.

A summarized and anecdotal account of an amateur play therapist (nursing student) working with a withdrawn child. Only very limited dialogue is provided, more often utilizing descriptions of what actions and conversations took place. This article is another case study to read, but without dialogue and given the inexperience of the therapist, it leaves much to be desired as a learning tool. The child in this case study expressed his anxiety in an obsession with cleanliness, spending much of the time cleaning the windows and walls of the playroom. He also played extensively with a customizable doll house, deconstructing and reconstructing it, and had the therapist act out his own daily routines.