Chapter 3: Using Play Techniques for Family Substance Abuse Concerns

Family substance abuse is a serious concern that is experienced by millions of children each year. When one or more family members abuse a substance, it can create an unsettling environment where children are exposed to conflict, poor communication, or neglect of their physical and emotional needs. Unfortunately, family substance abuse can have serious, negative consequences for children’s academic, social, and emotional development. However, in accordance with the American School Counselor Association’s (ASCA, 2012) National Model, professional school counselors (PSCs) work to remove barriers to all students’ academic and personal/social and emotional development. Through the delivery of responsive services, PSCs provide short-term counseling to assist students with personal concerns or relationship difficulties. Additionally, through a prevention-based school guidance curriculum, PSCs can help children to learn specific skills to cope with future challenges and maintain healthy psychosocial development (ASCA, 2012). Play therapy is a developmentally appropriate modality for individual and small group counseling with children. Therefore, in this chapter we discuss the psychosocial effects of family substance abuse and describe practical play therapy techniques PSCs can use with their students.