Dr. Shlomo Ariel, the founder and chairperson of the Israeli Play Therapy Association:

 

       Here is an excerpt of the Founders Declaration of the Israeli Play Therapy Association, of November 2004:

 

"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 North America and Western Europe, as attested by the growing number of publications, the enrichment of the field with novel approaches and techniques, the establishment of play therapy training programs in universities and institutes and the formation of international and local play therapy associations.

 

We, the undersigned, professionals in  fields of mental health, education and help who practice  play therapy in Israel or contribute to this field  in various ways,   and recognize its value and importance, hereby declare the establishment of  The Israeli Play Therapy Association . The goals of this association will be:

 

(a) To be an arena for fostering professional ties among  play therapy practitioners and students in Israel and abroad, through conferences, courses, a journal and an interactive website.

(b) Encouraging and aiding professional training in play therapy in Israel. Setting standards for training and accreditation in this field , to secure internationally high professional level.

(c ) Promoting research and scientific publications in areas relevant to play therapy?"

 

The rich blossom of the field of play therapy mentioned in the Founders Declaration has not reached Israel yet. It is  high time for this to happen. The founding of this association and the creation of this website are steps toward this goal.

In this website we shall bring to the readers short articles, not heavily scientific, about various aspects of play and play therapy, interview leading contributors to this field, tell about what is happening in this field in Israel and abroad,  report about and review new publications and new audio-visual materials, announce meetings, conferences, workshops , training programs , research projects and other relevant events and publish your responses, ideas and suggestions. The readers are encouraged to submit short articles for publication in this website. Every article found suitable for publication will be published , sometimes after some editing. We also welcome information about interesting events, projects, etc. Every relevant announcement will be printed free of charge.

 

 

 

 

                                                        

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  Association for Play Therapy (APT) (North America)

 

  International Collaborative on Play Therapy

 

  British Association of Play Therapists

 

 

The Israeli Play Therapy Association, 18 Harari Street, Ramat Gan, Israel

; Tel. 972-3-6781189; fax 972-3-6761851; [email protected]

Coordinator: Ety Levi, Tel 972-52-3398466; [email protected]