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...are detailed in this article. Direction in light of managed care is provided.
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Children living in the post-September 11, 2001, world need humanistic counselors who value them as relational beings and who provide them developmentally appropriate interventions to help build their resiliency to trauma (Lerner, Volpe, & Lindall, 2003; Speier, 2000). Research consistently confirms that one of the key factors to building resiliency to trauma is a relationship with a caring adult (Egeland, Carlson, & Sroufe, 1993; Werner & Smith, 2001). Humanistic counselors are caring adults who not only provide unconditional positive regard, genuineness, and empathy but also guide clients in discovering internal strength to develop resiliency to trauma (Raskin & Rogers, 2000; Rogers, 1951). Child-centered play therapists are humanistic counselors who develop a therapeutic relationship with children by using children's natural language of play (Landreth, 2002) and by implementing Axline's (1969) eight basic principles (see Appendix A).
Given recent trends of brief solution-focused therapy and prescriptive techniques, humanistic counselors need motivation and encouragement to maintain a developmentally appropriate child-centered play therapy approach with children. One world-renowned play therapist who has consistently implemented a child-centered approach throughout changing trends over the past 35 years is Garry Landreth. The purpose of this article is to encourage and guide humanistic counselors in their work with children by sharing his motivations, philosophy, and therapeutic approaches of child-centered play therapy.
First, an introduction of Garry Landreth and his accomplishments is warranted. He is a Regents Professor at the University of North Texas where he has taught for 35 years; the founder and former director of the Center for Play Therapy; the author of more than a hundred publications including seven books on play therapy; an international speaker and trainer in places such as Korea, South Africa, and China; and past president and board member of the Association for Play Therapy. He has mentored hundreds of play therapists from around the world. Even with these numerous professional achievements, he has always believed his greatest accomplishment is being a father. Through this interview, the reader will gain an understanding of Landreth's motivations, philosophy, and therapeutic approaches that have guided him in his work as a humanistic counselor. Recommended readings and videotapes on child-centered play therapy are provided in Appendix B.
INTERVIEW WITH GARRY LANDRETH
Motivations
Jennifer Baggerly (JB): Dr. Landreth, what has inspired you to make the contributions you have made to the field of humanistic counseling, particularly child-centered play therapy?
Garry Landreth (GL): Regarding my contributions, I've been fortunate in that people have found what I've had to share through my writings and speaking as helpful to them. My goal in my writings or in my speaking has always been to present the world of the child in a way that people could identify with and develop a sensitivity to the inner world of the child. My major objective was that people would become more sensitive to what the child's world is really like. People have found this helpful and effective with children, and so any contribution that I've been able to make has been largely a result of that.
JB: So it's been children that have inspired you to make that contribution.
GL: Yes, and certain people have inspired me in my life. When I first entered the counseling profession, I really was intending to work with teenagers, because I had a teaching background in the high school setting and was a counselor in a high school setting. My view of my life was that I was heading toward working with that age group, parents, and adults and I really enjoyed that. I like the challenge of trying to relate to rebellious, hostile, angry teenagers, and I think I was somewhat effective in doing so.
Then when I began to work on my doctoral program, my supervisor, Stan Caplan, saw in me some things of which I wasn't even aware. He suggested that I should consider working in play therapy. That was a foreign idea to me, that I would attempt to make contact with little persons, which I really did not understand at that time. But, he had seen some things in my personality that he identified as being helpful to children.
JB: Perhaps he saw the childlikeness.
GL: I think that and, I can't claim this anyway it just seems kind of natural for me, the sensitivity to the inner person of the child. Caplan's suggestion that...
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