Most parents don’t know who play therapists are, where they come from, where they can be found, whether they are charlatans, and how they can help solve their children’s problem. So today I decided to tell you how I I became such a special psychologist - a play therapist. 16 years ago I started working as a teacher-psychologist in a kindergarten in Moscow. It seemed to me, like many beginning specialists, that it was important to find out what problem the child had, where it came from and what to do about it. Therefore, I began my work with diagnostics: “Non-existent animal”, “Cactus”, “Kinetic drawing of a family”, “House-tree-person”, etc. So, the test has been passed, the problem has been identified: the child is anxious/aggressive/autistic/...Now let’s deal with this very problem! To help us, lesson notes that spell out goals and objectives, define methods and techniques, and schedule exercises and games (of course, developing communication and learning skills, memory, attention, thinking, imagination, speech). Then we give instructions - the children play, laugh, communicate, answer questions, learn to listen to each other, do something: draw or sculpt something, and do not suspect that our meeting is so scientifically based! At each such lesson there will be 2-3 children, who don't play by these rules. They will stand out from the general background with their cockiness or active resistance to my plan: they will crawl under the table when everyone needs to stand in a circle or they will fall to the floor when they need to stand on one leg. The most difficult ones will remain silent throughout the lesson and blend in with the interior; they will never undertake to lead the game according to the rules. All my students will be happy to come to class next time, but once in the office, again and again they will be silent or make faces, attack others or play only in your own way. And since this will be unacceptable for me and other children, our troublemakers will get angry, cry, have hysterics, let interesting information pass by and will not be able to gain new experience. For several years I have been looking for ways to help these children “learn the program”, how this was required by the corporate ethics of the educational institution. But again and again I met a child suffering from his behavior. I saw the problem, but I felt that if I focused only on this, I would work with anxiety, aggressiveness, mental retardation, autism, etc., but not with the child! And there was something wrong with that! Obviously, for this reason I became interested in non-directive play therapy and became a play therapist! Now I don’t give children instructions and directions, I don’t train skills and abilities. My task is to create conditions in which the child gains the experience of self-exploration, experience of interaction with other people, experience of self-development and self-expression. In this way, the child learns to accept and respect not only himself, but also others, and learns to use freedom with a sense of responsibility. The focus of play therapy is not the problem, but the child! It is more of a basic philosophy than just a technique or method. The main thing in non-directive play psychotherapy is not to act, but simply to be close to the child. Non-directive play psychotherapy is based on the theoretical approach of Carl Rogers - client-centered therapy. The client-centered approach is, first of all, a way of being, which is expressed in attitudes and actions that create an atmosphere conducive to personal growth. What kind of attitudes and actions are these? Here's how Carl Rogers' comrade-in-arms, Virginia Axline, formulated it: 1. The therapist is sincerely interested in the child and builds a warm, trusting relationship with him.2. The therapist unconditionally accepts the child as he is.3. The therapist creates a sense of safety and permission in the relationship so that the child feels free to explore and express himself fully.4. The therapist treats feelings with care and delicately reflects them, helping the child come to an understanding of his own Self.5. The therapist sincerely believes in the child's ability to act.,-2007