Virginia M. Axline (1911–1988)

Boy, do there need to be more books like this one. This book is just one long case study, but in detailing the sessions, and her conceptualization of the client, Axline clearly lays out how play therapy helps children feel repressed emotions, and empowers them to be their authentic selves. Plus- Dibs is awesome, as are all children.

I hear too much that without a change to the family system, and working with the parents, that children are incapable of growth, and of being more whole and show more healthy. This book proves that stance is horseshit. Must read for anyone who does therapy with children. show less

One of the earliest case studies of autism. However, it's very dated and, at this point, I think it may do more harm than good. Axline subscribed to the then-prevalent theory that autism was caused by emotionally distant parents, something that has proven to be false. This is useful in the sense that it shows the development of the field of child psychology, but no parent of an autistic child, or person trying to understand the causes of autism, would benefit from it.

I have been recommended this book as a book about an autistic boy. After having read this book, however, I have come to a conclusion that Dibs is not autistic but severely emotionally disturbed. He exhibits some autistic traits because of his giftedness, but he is clearly not on the spectrum based on is response to this therapy and based on how far he was able to progress. While his initial behaviours seemed autistic-like, I don't believe that it would be possible for a truly autistic child show more to be able to express himself the way he did and to improve in the fashion that he did. Nonetheless, it is a brilliant book about a brilliant child. It moved me deeply, and from reading it I have learned quite a lot about play therapy and offering emotional support to people in general. show less

This book has helped me a lot in my practice, as a general overview of play therapy, and to reconnect with the founding principles of the work. I skip around in it, some of the sections seem superfluous, but it does have a lot of transcripts from sessions along with Axline's analysis of what happened in the treatment, which can be useful in understanding how she perceived the work she was doing, and how she would go about judging 'good therapy' (child-centered) with 'bad therapy'. Well worth show more reading for clinicians who work with children. show less