Adlerian Play Therapy

Marci M. Breedlove

Adlerian Play Therapy, founded and developed by Terry Kottman, Ph.D., is a psychotherapeutic intervention for children that combines the practical elements of play therapy with the philosophical tenets of Individual Psychology. Individual Psychology is based on the works of Alfred Adler, who began his career in the psychoanalytic tradition but broke from this modality to define a more holistic, socially grounded theoretical framework. According to Carlson, Watts, and Maniacci, Individual Psychology holds that people develop interpersonal approaches to living, called life-styles , which subsequently inform the feelings, behaviors, and thoughts they experience. Life-styles are mental and emotional “maps” that are shaped by past experiences, provide explanations and motives for behaviors of the self and of others, and determine how individuals respond to certain situations in life. Adler asserted that individuals possess a pervasive need to belong to a social system, and it is within this social system that the individual ...

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