Child-Centered Play Therapy and Childhood Sexual Abuse

Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT) is a relationally based, developmentally appropriate intervention for children that focuses on the therapeutic relationship as the healing factor in therapy and play as the child’s natural language. Victims of CSA have experienced relational violations from which they develop a self-structure that is often injured by the conditions of worth set by the perpetrator/s. This chapter presents CCPT theoretical constructs and applications in the context of CSA. The chapter discusses how victims of CSA are impacted and how CCPT facilitates growth for children through trust and acceptance of the child’s innate tendency toward healing, as well as the CCPT practice structure. A case example highlights the process of CCPT and the powers of the play therapy relationship.