Play Psychotherapy with Children Traumatised by Caregivers with Alcohol Abuse Disorder: Integrative Interventions

Abstract

Children exposed to caregivers with alcohol abuse disorder (AUD) are often subjected to a psychologically destabilising home environment. These caregivers may demonstrate behaviours that compromise their children’s sense of safety and security and lead to a range of trauma-related symptoms. A trauma-focused treatment approach may assist with the reduction of children’s trauma-related symptoms as well as the prevention of, for example, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, behavioural problems, and pathological shame. In this article, the authors discuss the incorporation of tenets of cognitive behavioural play therapy into a trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy (TF-CBT) approach for children affected by a caregiver with AUD. Additionally, the authors discuss the effects of caregiver AUD on children and outline an integrative play-based treatment approach for treating the trauma these children experience. A case example is presented to illustrate the integration of TF-CBT and cognitive behavioural play therapy (CBPT) for children with caregivers with AUD.