Poetry of Life Counseling-About Us

Play therapy found it’s beginnings with Freud in the early 1900’s. He instructed a father in what to do and say while playing with his son. Freud’s daughter Anna went on to become a child psychotherapist. In the mid 1900’s Virginia Axline became famous for her research on child-centered play therapy and the books she wrote which also contained narratives for the student to read in her interactions with the children. Bernard Guerney became the first to coin the fraise Filial Therapy in the mid-1900’s. He launched some of the first research done on play therapy. Since then there have been several people who have contributed to the practice and study of play therapy. Gary Landreth coined the term Child Parent Relationship Therapy, (CPRT). He is the founder of the Center For, Play Therapy at the University of North Texas.

Landreth’s model is set up to have a group of parents meet once a week for ten weeks. They meet for a two hour period where they learn the basic skills of play therapy. They then go home and have a ½ hour play session with their chosen child once a week. When returning to the group they support one another and learn from each other and the therapist via watching taped sessions.