Dr. Bellinson has written the most valuable kind of professional book: one that will change the way you do therapy. Her insights into the meanings of children's behavior while playing board games are enlightening. Her clinical examples and her suggestions regarding the therapeutic use of these behaviors are even more insightful. This book is not vague or pretentious. It is straightforward, practical, and likely to lead readers to their own creative use of the only expressive medium that most latency-age children will choose to use in the playroom. This is a significant contribution to a crucial but neglected area of child therapy. -- John E. Meeks, M.D., president and medical director, The Foundation Schools This book fills a gaping hole in the child psychotherapy literature. Until now, the training received by child therapists usually failed to prepare them for the use of board games, the preferred and age-appropriate activity of many school-age children. Bellinson addresses this issue straightforwardly, with many down-to-earth suggestions to the therapist, and a multitude of clinical examples. She shows in detail how the childrens' character structure and psychodynamics can be revealed in how they use board games, and she demonstrates how the therapeutic process can proceed productively through this modality. The writing is accessible and engaging. This book will be valued by beginning child therapists and 'old hands' alike. -- Neil Altman, Ph.D., co-editor, Psychoanalytic Dialogues
