2005

Sexual abuse of young children may produce deep psychical scars: children may internalize the aberrant feelings, images, and bodily sensations associated with abuse, which obfuscates and obstructs psychological development (Allan & Bertoi, 1992; Allan & Brown, 1993). Jungian play therapy promotes psychical healing by emphasizing the salience of the positive therapeutic dyad and encouraging the emergence of the self-healing archetype that is embedded within children’s psyches (Allan, 1988). Once the self-healing archetype unfolds within the therapeutic container, children will play out themes significant to their inner struggles (Thompson & Allan, 1987). By reconciling polarities that surface within the playroom, Jungian play therapists facilitate children’s inner healing by working through complexes centering on internal struggles, which may include the dichotomies of good and evil, shame and pride, and condemnation and redemption (Kalsched, 1996).