Enhancing Resilience in Play Therapy With Child and Family Survivors of Mass Trauma

Mass trauma, in which whole communities or regions are affected by a disaster, is particularly challenging because the infrastructure is often destroyed, and people's access to resources is eliminated.

This chapter is designed to provide an understanding of the needs of communities of people (especially children and parents) in such situations; a template for intervening soon after such an event; and the importance of play and play therapy for capitalizing on and building resilience in children and families, both immediately after a disaster and long into the future.

The chapter briefly outlines the impact of disasters on the psychosocial well-being of survivors; describes appropriate roles for play therapists and other mental health professionals; highlights the importance of play in the disaster context; and provides examples of play-based interventions that can be conducted in the field soon after mass disasters, as well as more traditionally delivered play therapy interventions that can be applied to help children and their families later in the process of disaster recovery.

(PsycINFO Database Record © 2019 APA, all rights reserved)