The Art of Play (part 1/2)
‘Psychotherapy takes place in the overlap of two areas of playing, that of the patient and that of the therapist. Psychotherapy has to do with two people playing together. The corollary of this is that playing is not possible then the work done by the therapist is directed towards bringing the patient from a state of not being able to play into a state of being able to play.’
(Case & Dalley citing Winnicott, 2007: 78)
A few months ago I pondered the relationship between art and play and suggested how in my own practice the business of making art work often lacked the sense of discovery and experiential learning that I had associated with art therapy. Incidentally I’ve recently been reading a lot of literature around art therapy with children and adolescents which positions play as an important part of basic human development. It has been interesting to learn about how play becomes an important developmental milestone in our transition from children to adulthood, even modeled in our earliest relationship with our parents.
Case and Dalley write that there is overwhelming evidence, from video playback and frame-by-frame analysis, that infants want and actively seek social engagement and play from their primary caregiver (2007:25). Good attachment between the infant and their caregiver is essential. Without it the infant’s sense of self is lost and changes to the brain occur (O’Brien, 2004:6). Interestingly the brain is born prematurely though continues to develop during childhood and into young adulthood.
