Culturally and linguistically responsive play therapy: Adapting child-centered play therapy for deaf children.


Children with deafness face societal obstacles every day that require navigation of environmental and communication factors. Deaf children raised in hearing families encounter barriers to development in a hearing world that limits their expression of thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Child-centered play therapy may provide an opportunity for deaf children to experience a therapeutic relationship that fosters the child’s growth and exploration of thoughts, feelings, and emotions in an open and accepting environment. Modifying practices of child-centered play therapy to meet the needs of deaf children using American Sign Language can provide a new opportunity for therapeutic access for these children in a culturally responsive manner. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)