Play is children's natural medium of expression and
communication. Its importance to all aspects of child development and
well-being has been recognized and proved in numerous theoretical and empirical
studies. Children's pre-school education is largely based on play. Play therapy
has always been the main though not the sole instrument in psychotherapy with
children and one of the tools of psychotherapy with adolescents and adults. The
field of play therapy has been growing fast in the latest years, especially in
We, the undersigned, professionals in fields of mental
health, education and help who practice
play therapy in
(a) To be
an arena for fostering professional ties among play therapy practitioners and
students in
(b)
Encouraging and aiding professional training in play therapy in
(c ) Promoting research and scientific publications in areas
relevant to play therapy.
Membership in this association will be open to mental health, helping and
educational professionals and trainees who fully or partially practice play
therapy or promote play therapy, and researchers whose work contributes to this
field. Conditions for membership will be defined more accurately in the
associations' constitution.
Fundamental Principles
The association's activities will be founded on the
following principles:
(a) The
concept "play" includes all the kinds of play practiced by children,
adolescents and adults: symbolic, make-believe and socio-dramatic play, motor
games (e.g. jumping on a trampoline), games with rules such as table games,
social games, sports games, etc.
Such an inclusive definition is required to cover
the needs of clients of all ages, cultures, levels of development and types of
difficulties. It is a challenge for the field of play therapy to utilize all
kinds of play for the benefit of all kinds of clients.
(b) The
concept "play therapy" refers to individual, family or group therapy
in which
play is a central, not necessarily the sole means for achieving
the therapeutic goals , and a vehicle of communicating with clients. This concept refers also to diagnostic
evaluations based on unstructured or structured observations on play.
(c) Play
therapy assumes up-to-date
integrative knowledge of all the fields relevant to the main streams and
methods of psychotherapy, such as child and adult development, child and adult
psychopathology, dynamic, cognitive-behavioral
and systemic psychotherapy, social and cultural anthropology of child
and family, etc. . Play therapy is also based on up-to-date knowledge of play,
its nature, its biological underpinnings, its functions in the child's
cognitive and socio-emotional development and its psychodynamic , social and
cultural roles. The play therapy knowledge base also includes familiarity with
inter-cultural commonalities and differences in the play modes of different
socio-cultural communities. Play therapy
requires familiarity with the therapeutic properties of play, the properties
that have the power to fortify the positive, constructive forces in the
clients. The field of play therapy
includes many subfields and traditions. A play therapist has active knowledge
of all these and is able to integrate concepts, methods and techniques form all these
various subfields in
his or her practice.
(d) Play
therapy presupposes familiarity with the current world of children of various
sections of the
population. Updated play therapy is relevant to difficulties emanating from
central socio-cultural influences in present-day children's life, such as over-exposure to violent and erotic contents
in TV and computer games, fast cultural change and inter-cultural encounters
laden with tension, changes in the traditional structure of families and weakening
of parents and teachers' authority, violence and abuse within the family,
competitive pressures for educational and economical achievements, substance abuse, delinquency, direct or
indirect exposure to war, terror and
road accidents and widening socioeconomic gaps.
(e)
Children and families of all sections of the population who suffer from
difficulties whose sources are biological (e.g. ADHD, PDD and learning
disabilities), socio-cultural , educational or
familiar will enjoy play therapy as a diagnostic and therapeutic instrument.
(f) Play
therapists are adults who have not lost the ability to play and enjoy playing and communicating
with children and non-children in the language of play.
(g) Play
therapists know how to use play as a therapeutic instrument in individual,
family and group settings.
The Association's Organs
A general assembly
A chairperson
A board of directors
An international board of consultants, for the first
year of the Associations' operations
A membership committee
An education and training committee,
that will also set standards for training and accreditation
A communications committee, in charge of a website, a newsletter and
journal, etc.
An ethics committee
An inspection and monitoring committee
A treasurer
Signed by:
Shlomo Ariel, Emanuel Avital,
Ofra Ayalon, Salima Bishara, Cyntia Carel, Tova
Fishman, Muhammad M. Haj-Yahia, Mooli Lahad, Dvora Merhavi, Odeda Peled
Founders' profiles:
Shlomo Ariel –
Elected first president by the
founders. Expert-supervisor of clinical
psychology by the Israeli Ministry of Health. Expert-Supervisor of family therapy by the
Israeli Family Therapy
Association. Expert-Supervisor- Professor of Child Play Therapy
by the International Board of Examiners
of Certified Child
and Play Therapists. 2003. Co-Director, The
Integrative
Emanuel Avital -
A social worker. Graduate of the Israeli
Ministry of Social Welfare's
Multi-Systemic Child Play Therapy Training Program,
headed by Shlomo
Ariel. Currently, Director of the The Emergency Shelter for Children's at Risk,
Tel Aviv.
Dr. Ofra Ayalon –
A clinical Psychologist. Past Professor of Psychology at
professionals in
As a trainer and consultant, Dr. Ayalon has worked
with mental health workers on-site in traumatized communities in many
countries.
A
social worker. Graduate of the Israeli Ministry of
Social Welfare's
Multi-Systemic Child Play Therapy Training Program,
headed by Shlomo Ariel, and a teacher-supervisor in
that program. Initiator of services and
training programs for the advancement of children and women in the Palestinian
Arab community in
Dr.
Cyntia Carel –
A child psychiatrist. Past President of the Israeli
Family Therapy Association.
Past Director of the Child and
Adolescent Outpatient Clinic, Geha Mental
Tova Fishman –
A
social worker. Graduate of the Israeli Ministry of
Social Welfare's
Multi-Systemic Child Play Therapy Training Program,
headed by Shlomo
Ariel, and a teacher-supervisor
in that program. Former Director of the The
Emergency Shelter for Children's at Risk, Tel Aviv.
Professor Dr. Muhammad Haj-Yahia –
Associate Professor, The
Professor Dr. Mooli Lahad -
Professor of dramatherapy at
An educational consultant
and a social worker. A family therapist, certified by
the Israeli Family therapy Association. National
Inspector of Children at Risk Programs, the Israeli Ministy
of Education. A therapist and consultant in The Integrative Psychotherapy Center,
Israel.
Dr. Odeda Peled -
A rehabilitational psychologist, a neuropsychologist,
specializing in ADHD and developmental disorders, a creative arts and play
therapist. Co-Director, The Integrative
International
Consultant - Professor Charles Schaefer,
CHARLES E. SCHAEFER, PhD, is considered by many to be the "Father
of Play Therapy". He is Professor of Psychology at
"I
would be happy to serve as a consultant to the Israeli Play Therapy
Association. The field of Play therapy will be enriched by its
activities" Charles Scaefer.