Playing for Their Lives

Singer, a Yale-affiliated clinical psychologist, explains the dynamics and applications of play therapy by offering case studies of six troubled children. Her patients include an eight-year-old whose mother is dying of leukemia; the aggressive son of substance abusers; a boy who was molested by a relative; a depressed girl caught up in her mother's divorce proceedings; a hyperactive preschooler; and the bed-wetting daughter of a perfectionist mother. With each child Singer employs a variety of techniques, from traditional use of toys and games to guided visualizations to behavior modification. Her clinical skills are impressive, but her rare combination of perceptiveness, empathy and humility sets her book apart. Singer conveys her clients' distress with appreciation for their courage; she also communicates her own distress in dealing with parents who, unintentionally or not, compound their children's problems. Her awareness of the special difficulties associated with treating children--who, of course, do not schedule their own appointments, or control their environments--heightens the significance of the progress she reports. (Mar.)