Dramatherapy And The Bereaved Child

This book addresses the needs of children experiencing the hospitalization or death of a caregiver or loved one to comprehend and cope with tragedy with the assistance creative non-fictions and dramatic play. Based on the author’s two-decade-long clinical practice and an extensive career working with bereaved children and their families as a dramatherapist and child life practitioner, this book demonstrates how storytelling and dramatherapy can be used to tell the truth to children in these difficult circumstances. Through vivid and candid case examples, the author demonstrates the developmentally normative, dramatic, and psychotherapeutic principles that inform her work. She shares stories for children that are carefully constructed to help children understand the truth of what they are facing rather than shielding them from reality. Attuned to the children’s direct experience, these stories take care to respect the culture and context of the death, and the histories of the people involved. The book, accessibly written, will provide guidance, insight, and comfort for professionals, clinicians, and grieving children and their families. Additional reader resources can be found at https://nowhitelies.com/store and www.routledge.com/9780367461041 under "Support Material".

The scope of this book covers the many possible approaches to working with bereaved children. The contributors draw on their wide-ranging experience of working with bereaved children in a many different contexts to examine: methods, such as dramatherapy and play therapy various settings, such as working in schools, hospitals and residential environments group and individual work working with adolescents. The breadth of the contributors' backgrounds- among them are psychologists, social workers, teachers, play therapists and an actress -brings to light the benefits of their differing approaches.

With reflections on the process of grief experienced in bereavement, these 12 stories are about man's struggle with death and loss. Intended to stimulate coping/helping skills, each tale is accompanied by three story-making structures involving the themes

This professional handbook evaluates the considerable benefits of dramatherapy in educational settings. A variety of highly experienced dramatherapists, educational psychologists and childhood experts comment on its merits in relation to the involvement of school staff, children, adolescents and families.

Providing a new and proven way forward for practitioners who want to help children, but who do not have recourse to a qualified therapist, this book covers: tried and tested practical activities to use with children simple explanations of how and why dramatherapy works informative case studies that show activities being used in practice a useful list of further reading, centres for training and qualifications.

"This volume provides a wonderful treasure-chest of appealing and practical aids to assist mental health practitioners in counseling bereaved school-age children. Numerous exercises and games are included that will encourage children to express their complicated feelings about the death of a loved one. Handouts for parents and teachers as well as guidelines for practitioners serve as important resources to assist adults in their efforts to help bereaved children." -- Nancy Boyd Webb. [from back cover].

Dramatherapy with Children, Young People and Schools is the first book to specifically evaluate the unique value of dramatherapy in the educational environment. A variety of highly experienced dramatherapists, educational psychologists and childhood experts discuss the benefits to the children and young people, and also in relation to the involvement of teachers, the multi-disciplinary team and families. This professional book offers a panoramic view to explain how through dramatherapy children and young people develop their communication skills, sociability and their actual desire to learn. Detailed case studies demonstrate individual successes in youngsters experiencing a range of emotional difficulties and psychological needs. These studies include: conquering a fear of maths; violent behaviour transformed into educational achievement; safe expression of feelings for a sexually abused child; and where children are diagnosed with mental health disorders such as ADHD and ODD, where the benefits of dramatherapy with children and families are carefully described and evaluated, suggesting that this therapeutic discipline can achieve positive outcomes. The practical advice and inspirational results included here promote a future direction of integration and collaboration of school staff, multi-disciplinary teams and families. Education and equality are high on the agenda, and the function of dramatherapy is not just as a treatment, but as an economically viable and valuable preventive therapy.

Dramatherapy with Children, Young People and Schools is the first book to specifically evaluate the unique value of dramatherapy in the educational environment. A variety of highly experienced dramatherapists, educational psychologists and childhood experts discuss the benefits to the children and young people, and also in relation to the involvement of teachers, the multi-disciplinary team and families. This professional book offers a panoramic view to explain how through dramatherapy children and young people develop their communication skills, sociability and their actual desire to learn. Detailed case studies demonstrate individual successes in youngsters experiencing a range of emotional difficulties and psychological needs. These studies include: conquering a fear of maths; violent behaviour transformed into educational achievement; safe expression of feelings for a sexually abused child; and where children are diagnosed with mental health disorders such as ADHD and ODD, where the benefits of dramatherapy with children and families are carefully described and evaluated, suggesting that this therapeutic discipline can achieve positive outcomes. The practical advice and inspirational results included here promote a future direction of integration and collaboration of school staff, multi-disciplinary teams and families. Education and equality are high on the agenda, and the function of dramatherapy is not just as a treatment, but as an economically viable and valuable preventive therapy.