Abstract
Family play therapy combines play therapy with family systems therapy. When family secrets are revealed in a family setting, with play to cushion the family's anxiety, families have the opportunity to resolve long-standing intrapsychic and interpersonal difficulties that impede the psychological well-being of both children and parents. Family play therapy effectively reduces symptomatic behavior in children in an age-appropriate manner—an advantage over family therapy that may be geared to adult cognitive levels. It also gradually shifts the family to a systems perspective of its problems in a non-threatening way, thereby facilitating the child's connection to his or her primary caretakers.
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Ms. Eaker is a psychotherapist in private practice in Family Systems Theory, and therapist for the United Federation Teachers' Stress Management Program and various Employee Assistance Programs, and a PhD candidate.
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Eaker, B. Unlocking the family secret in family play therapy. Child Adolesc Soc Work J 3, 235–253 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00758255
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00758255