Psychodrama, though more commonly used with adults in role play, has its genesis in the play of children. In this volume, Bernadette Hoey explains how its techniques can be safely used in working with the child who has been badly traumatized. Children encountering therapy are often wary. By playing as an equal, but also as an adult responsive to the healing qualities of play, the therapist permits the balance of power to shift unobtrusively backwards and forwards with the child, whilst respecting the boundaries the child may wish to keep. Thus sometimes the therapist "calls the tune" of the play and sometimes the child. Therapist and child enter together the world of play that can be unpredictable, funny and moving - an apparently spontaneous form of healing. Beginning with an examination of the ideas of Jacob Moreno as they relate to children, the book goes on to detail the author's own development of psychodramatic techniques using puppets, soft toys, stories and poems. The text provides practical examples of work with children suffering from a range of problems, including language disorder, and depression and abuse.