| Abstract: | Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a pervasive, traumatic event (A. H. Heflin & E. Deblinger, 2007) affecting hundreds of thousands of ethnically and socioeconomically diverse children and families across the United States (F. W. Putnam, 2003). E. Gil (2006) and J. S. Shelby and E. D. Felix (2006) have noted that integrative therapies--those that combine directive and nondirective strategies--possess the capacity to benefit a child traumatized by sexual assault. Jungian analytical play therapy (JAPT) is a creative, integrative therapy that may be beneficial when applied to children affected by CSA (J. Allan, 1988). Within the safety of a nonjudgmental, therapeutic relationship, children affected by CSA may become consciously aware of and subsequently resolve conflicting emotions associated with sexual assault in symbolic, less-threatening ways. Through participation in JAPT, the child's psyche may begin the therapeutic process of integrating inner and outer emotional polarities in an archetypal quest for self-healing after sexual trauma (E. Green, 2005). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
