Play Therapy for Severe Psychological Trauma

In this instructive video program, well-known play and family therapist Eliana Gil elucidates the nature of trauma, how to recognize it clinically, and how to manage its powerful effects on children's development with the use of specific art and play techniques. The video includes a reenacted clinical interview and footage from an actual play therapy session, as well as many moving examples of children's work. With empathy and wisdom, Dr. Gil discusses such important topics as what dissociation looks like in children's paintings and drawings and how to intervene effectively in posttraumatic play.

Eliana Gil, PhD, is Director of the Starbright Training Institute for Child and Family Play Therapy and dedicates some of her time to providing intensive courses on assessment and treatment of child abuse. She also works at the Multicultural Clinical Center in Springfield, Virginia, where she is developing The Children’s Corner to provide mental health services for young children with a range of problems, including child maltreatment. Dr. Gil has focused her work on helping sexually abused children and their families for the past 33 years in California, Maryland, and Virginia. She teaches courses on child maltreatment, play therapy, and family therapy at Virginia Tech. Originally from Ecuador, she is bilingual and bicultural.