The Value of Play Therapy by Margaret Lowenfeld
To be successful a discussion upon anything must be based upon agreement as to the meaning of the terms to be discussed. It is worthwhile, therefore, to consider the meaning of the four words in the title.
The word PLAY is usually associated with children, but it has a very much richer meaning than that and is commonly used in four senses, all of which go to make up the content of Play Therapy rightly understood.
The word play as commonly used in English has four meanings: Play as the opposite of work; Play in association with “games”; Play as it is used in the theatre; and Play in connection with observation of natural objects, the play of light and shade, for example, and in connection with instruments, play the piano, the playing of an orchestra.