How do children emotionally heal and regain equilibrium after suffering trauma? How do adults understand and help them in a therapeutic relationship? These questions are at the heart of Violet Oaklander's approach to play therapy and her methods for training adults to work with children and adolescents. In this text, Peter Mortola uses qualitative and narrative methods of analysis to document and detail Oaklander's work in a two-week summer training attended by child therapists from around the world.

Peter Mortola, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Counseling and School Psychology at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, where he focuses on developmentally appropriate methods of counseling children and adolescents. He is the author of BAM! Boys Advocacy and Mentoring (Routledge, 2008).

Oaklander, Foreword. Introduction. Week One. Day One: Monday - Building a Relationship. Day Two: Tuesday - Making Contact. Day Three: Wednesday - Experiencing the Self. Day Four: Thursday - Working with Aggressive Energy and Anger. Day Five: Friday - The Music Experience. Week Two. Day Six: Monday - Sand Tray Day. Day Seven: Tuesday - Stories, Metaphors, and Puppets. Day Eight: Wednesday - Practicum Day. Day Nine: Thursday - Self Nurturing Work. Day Ten: Friday - Closing Activities. Epilogue: Clay, Culture, and Age: The Oaklander Approach in South Africa.