Play Therapy for Children Inspired by Experiential Dynamic Therapy (EDT)

Abstract

ABSTRACT The demand for short-term therapy with a clearly defined therapy plan and operative goals, which provides deep and lasting change, is constantly increasing. This demand is especially challenging for child psychologists. While classic psychodynamic approaches to child therapy are rich in theory, they do not provide the therapist with systematic steps for conceptualization, from which detailed therapy techniques could be derived. To fill this gap, this article provides an original extension of Experiential Dynamic Therapy (EDT) well-suited for children, adolescents, and families. This method facilitates the assembly of a clear, dynamic conceptualization of the difficulties encountered by children and their families; proposes clear therapeutic tools for achieving the therapy goals derived of this conceptualization, and enables deep, stable therapeutic achievements within a relatively short time. The paper presents a case study to demonstrate these principles. This novel adaptation of the theoretical principles of EDT for child psychotherapy opens a new horizon for application of EDT in diverse types of interactions.