Monitored Play Therapy: Conceptual and Methodological Issues.

There are many unanswered questions about play therapy. Monitored play therapy is an attempt to discover answers to these questions. The main emphasis is on quantitative recording and analysis of the process and outcome of play therapy. However, because of its newness, monitored play therapy also has some weaknesses. The main strong point is the conceptual and physical separation of the stages of play into aggression and construction. The use of separate play rooms for aggression and construction eliminates many problems. However, some of the weaknesses found in this framework are: (1) the equality of stimulus properties of the two rooms, (2) differences in times required to complete games in the two rooms, (3) the importance of a skill factor in playing games, (4) little opportunity to manipulate aggressive materials in the clients own way, (5) no opportunity for the destruction of objects, and (6) no creative outlet for aggression. The role and limits of playroom aggression are explained as being within the limits of social acceptability. Monitored versus traditional play therapy is discussed, primarily with respect to the conceptual framework, data, and value of play therapy over no therapy. (KJ)