Addressing the Needs of Military Children Through Family-Based Play Therapy

Abstract

Ongoing foreign conflicts have exposed military-connected children to stressors not generally faced by the general child population. Although many children of service members and veterans are resilient and successfully adapt to these changes, frequent relocation, fluid family structure, and ambiguous loss can become too overwhelming for many children of military families and lead to pathological symptoms that require them to receive treatment. This paper discusses the use of family-based play therapy interventions with military children. It will focus on the following areas: (1) risks to the psychological and emotional health of children of service members, (2) adverse effects of combat stress reactions of military parents on their children, (3) traumatic grief of children whose family member has died or been grievously wounded, (4) family-based therapies currently in the treatment of childhood grief and trauma, and (5) play therapy as a means of treating bereavement and traumatization of military-connected children and their families. A case example demonstrating a couple and family therapist’s use of family-based play therapy to deal with traumatic grief of a military child is provided. Recommendations for future research are presented.