Play Therapy with Families - Book Report/Review Example

Introduction The book “Dibs: In Search Of Self” written by Axline (1964) is related to child development. Axline (1964) presented the case of Dibs, a five-year young child, who was emotionally disturbed. Dibs had been considered as an extra “special,” which suggests of social barriers that restricted his learning. The author wrote this book from her standpoint of being a therapist. The purpose of this assignment is to conduct a review of the above stated book with presenting a summary and explaining the key lessons learned from the same. Summary Axline (1964) in “Dibs: In Search Of Self” presented Dibs, who had a highly educated and wealthy family. The author elaborated the fact that the parents, teachers and others perceived the boy (i.e. Dibs) to experience cognitive or emotional disorders. Dibs had issues in interacting with his teachers and other kids in his class. However, his teacher without helping him to overcome from the issue let him to conduct actions in his own way. Dibs’ mother and father were highly intelligent and proactive in their career. Unfortunately, they did not remain much conscious regarding their child. The lack of care from her mother during the infant stage can be reckoned as the prime reason of causing negative effects on Dibs. When Dibs’ parents realized of the issue concerning his isolation and shortage in self-advancement, they approached to Axline, as their last hope of getting recovered from the difficulties faced by the child. In this regard, a complete interaction between Dibs and Axline was witnessed in the form of assisting the child towards getting quick recovery from the problems faced. This interaction could be measured in the form of conducting counseling sessions by the author i.e. Axline with Dibs in helping the child to get rid of the conditions of self-discovery and isolation (Axline, 1964). While summarizing the book, it was found that the author has adopted and applied non-directive play therapy for ensuring psychological development of the child. The book highlighted the fact that Dibs was highly obedient and thus, the implementation of play therapy was deemed to be highly effective. The author highlighted that the psychological development of the child was evident from his gradual process. In this regard, notable improvements can be found within Dobs in terms of expressing himself and interacting socially with others among others. Furthermore, the improvement of the child through play therapy was also evident from Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test, where he scored 168. This test suggests of child’s psychological development. Dibs finally recovered from the issue and was able to interact with others effectively. He also conveyed that Axline had been his very first friend (Axline, 1964). The book revealed certain important factors relating to social support that were duly considered by the author towards making greater improvements in Dibs, as the child faced critical situations of isolation and lack in self development. One of such factors is identified to be introducing the concept of play therapy, which proved to be highly effective for greater development of the child. It is worth mentioning that the book is all about the significance of providing social support to children particularly to those who face problems relating to learning disabilities. These learning abilities were also found to be prevalent in Dibs, as the child showed certain lacunas in learning as well as self-development domains (Axline, 1964). In relation to the above context, the book mainly assessed the efficiency of play therapy on a particular by named Dibs. The implications of this therapy adopted by the author mainly showcased the deliverance of effective social support to the boy who faced varied adverse situations of isolation and shortage in self-advancement. More importantly, the book highlighted that the author had certain interactions with the child while applying such therapy. In this regard, one of such interactions between the author and the child could be ascertained in the form of conducting therapy sessions based on which such adverse situations faced by the child could be addressed as well as mitigated (Axline, 1964). Key Lessons Learned While explaining the lessons that I have learned from the case of Dibs, I understood that the deliverance of quality social support to the people eventually lead towards solving the problems relating to disturbed psychological conditions. From a theoretical perspective, the perception of social support is important to consider, as this tends to offer active support to those individuals who undergo through varied turbulent situations. With this concern, the following key lessons have been learned by me: Importance of Counseling Skills One of the key lessons that I learned from the book of Axline (1964) is the significance of counseling skills, which acted as one of the prime determinants of play therapy adopted by the author for making self-development of the child named Dibs. It is worth mentioning in relation to Dib’s situation that every child must possess certain limitations that vary from one another. Thus, from the perspective of the therapists, it is important to understand the limitations of each child (Schaefer, 2011). Similarly, the author applied the play therapy in terms of conducting sessions with Dibs for providing greater level of social support to the child. Evidently, while conducting such sessions, the author underwent through the activities being performed by Dibs in classroom and also imagined the thought procedures of the child (Axline, 1964). It is notable that children have limitations with respect to both psychological and physical aspects. These limitations are highly varied from one child to other. With this concern, the author decided to provide active social support to Dibs by the conduct of appropriate, relevant and effective counseling sessions for helping the child to get rid of the situation of isolation as well as shortage in self-discovery (Axline, 1964). With regards to the above context, the book highlighted the fact that the overall behavioral attitudes and skills of Dibs took place a year later. This can be justified from the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test score of 168 of Dibs, which resulted after a year from the start of play therapy. This suggests that the development process of child requires time and the therapists should keep patience for deriving positive results (Axline, 1964). Importance of Respecting the Child Another key lesson that I learned from the book written by Axline (1964) is the importance of respecting the child. It is notable that every child possesses varied characteristics, which might be disliked by the adults. However, in order to develop the psychological attitudes and behaviors of a child, it is important that the therapists and the parents must respect the child with their characteristics (Axline, 1964). I learned that respect towards the children means forming better communication between the children and the therapists. This respect to the child eventually results into developing the isolated attitudes (Landreth, 2013; Roland, 1991). According to the readings of the book, it could be identified that the author has made deliberate efforts in respecting the child by the way of maintaining ethical practices. This social support based initiative taken by the author could be duly measured in the form of acquiring permission from the parents of Dibs prior to recording her facts while conducting counseling sessions with the child Axline, 1964). Importance of Establishing Good Relation Another key lesson that I learned learnt from the book written by Axline (1964) is the importance of establishing good relation with the children by the therapists for ensuring the execution of an effective play therapy (Axline, 1964). In terms of social support, it is also defined as the correlation persisted between the therapists and the children with having mutual objective of cognitive development of the later (Bowers, 2013; Masterson, 2011). Thus, based on this aspect, the author endeavoured to establish and maintain good relation with Dibs so that it can help the child to get retrieved from the adverse conditions of isolation and shortage in self-advancement. Based on the readings derived from the book, it could be ascertained that the author tried to establish and maintain better relation with Dibs by recognizing the child’s thought process and acquiring detailed idea about the activities performed by the child in classroom (Axline, 1964). The establishment of good relation also indicates of social support to Dibs’ that led the child to recover from the issue. Both verbal and non-verbal interactions cause greater establishment of good relationships (Axline, 1964). Axline (1964) conveyed in the book about the significance of offering effective and quality social support to the children that can help them to change their respective psychological attitudes and also make greater degree of self-development. From the perspective of providing effective social support to Dibs, it was found that the author has tried to maintain varied ethical practices and act as per the psychological conditions possess by the chid (Axline, 1964). Before the interactions with Axline, Dibs lacked social support from his teachers and other kids and his parents, which certainly lead towards causing negative effects on him. He was deprived of good relations that resulted into imposing drastic effect on his overall performance. However, the formation of an effective social interaction with Axline through good rapport supported Dibs to recover completely (Axline, 1964). Conclusion Based on the above analysis and discussion, it can be affirmed that the book “Dibs: In Search Of Self” written by Axline (1964) suggests of the importance of providing active social support to a child named Dibs by introducing non-directive play therapy and conducting counselling sessions. From this particular book, certain key lessons relating to social support that include the significance of counselling skills and forming effective communication with the affected individuals can be learned. Thus, it is projected that the practices adopted by the author with considering the behavioural attitudes possess by the child i.e. Dibs would eventually support such people who bear indifferent psychological conditions in making greater level of self-development. From the course of the study, it is eminent that Dibs have experienced a major issue that restricts him to communicate effectively with his friends, family members and others. However, this issue has resolved considerably through the interactions with his therapist, Axline. The study suggests of the different difficulties that Dibs had experienced from his childhood. However, Dibs have been able to recover from such difficulties through the support gained from his therapist. In this regard, the verbal and nonverbal interactions between Dibs and his therapist have been highly effective. Moreover, the effective relationship persisted between them is also a major factor, which contributed in speedy recovery of Dibs. This reflects the importance of social support in the psychological development of Dibs. This social support is not only limited to the therapist of Dibs, but a considerable social support is also notable from his mother. His mother became closer to Dibs and this considerably supported Dibs to recover from his difficulties. In terms of conclusion, it can be affirmed that social support has played a significant role to the recovery of Dibs. This development of Dibs is notable from his wider interaction with his teachers and other people. On a further note, the study reflected that the deliverance of an effective social support to Dibs at the initial stage would not have led to the establishment of such difficulties. Thus, it is eminent that effective social support leads to greater psychological development of a child, which is reckoned to be one of the most primary requisites towards leading a meaningful life. References Axline, V. M. (1964). Dibs in search of self. The United States: RHUS. Bowers, R. D. (2013). Play therapy with families: A collaborative approach to healing. The United States: Rowman & Littlefield. Landreth, G. L. (2013). Innovations in play therapy. London: Routledge. Masterson, J. F. (2011). Search for the real self: unmasking the personality disorders of our age. New York: Simon and Schuster. Roland, A. (1991). In search of self in India and Japan: toward a cross-cultural psychology. The United States: Princeton University Press. Schaefer, C. E. (2011). Foundations of play therapy. New York: Wiley. Read More