Touch in Child Counseling and Play Therapy ─ An Ethical and Clinical Guide

Touch in Child Counseling and Play Therapy explores the professional and legal boundaries around physical contact in therapy and offers best-practice guidelines from a variety of perspectives. Chapters address issues around appropriate and sensitive therapist-initiated touch, therapeutic approaches that use touch as an intervention in child treatment, and both positive and challenging forms of touch that are initiated by children. In these pages, professionals and students alike will find valuable information on ways to address potential ethical dilemmas, including defining boundaries, working with parents/guardians, documentation, consent forms, cultural considerations, countertransference, and much more.

Janet A. Courtney, PhD, LCSW is founder of FirstPlay Therapy and an adjunct professor at Barry University School of Social Work in Miami Shores, Florida. She is a TEDx Speaker, a registered play therapy supervisor, and past president of the Florida Association for Play Therapy.

Robert D. Nolan, PhD, is the former executive director of the Institute for Child & Family Health (ICFH) in Miami, Florida. He was a founding member of the Florida Association for Play Therapy and served as its first president. In 2012, he received the lifetime achievement award from the United Way of Miami-Dade.