As they play, children do more than imagine--they also invent
life-long approaches to thinking, feeling, and relating to other
people. For nearly a century, clinical psychologists have been
concerned with the content and interpersonal meaning of play. More
recently, developmental psychologists have concentrated on the links
between the emergence of symbolic play and evolving thought and
language. At last, this volume bridges the gap between the two
disciplines by defining their common interests and by developing areas
of interface and interrelatedness. The editors have brought together
original chapters by distinguished psychoanalysts, clinical
psychologists, social workers, and developmental psychologists who
shed light on topics outside the traditional confines of their
respective domains. Thus the book features clinicians exploring
subjects such as play representation, narrative, metaphor, and
symbolization, and developmentalists examining questions regarding
affect, social development, conflict, and psychopathology. Taken
together, the contributors offer a rich, integrative view of the many
dimensions of early play as it occurs among peers, between parent and
child, and in the context of therapy.