Improving Parent-Child Relationships Through Filial Therapy: An Interview With Garry Landreth

A native of Oklahoma, Garry Landreth began his career as a public school teacher in the Albuquerque, New Mexico, Public School system in 1958. In 1962, he completed his Master of Arts in Counseling from the University of New Mexico and began working as a school counselor in Albuquerque. He completed his Doctor of Education in Counseling from the University of New Mexico in 1966, moved to Denton, Texas, to join the counseling faculty of the University of North Texas that same year, and has remained there throughout his career in counselor education. Garry and his spouse, Monica, have been married more than 40 years, have three children (ages 34, 31, and 25), and have three grandchildren. Garry is internationally known for his writings and work in promoting play therapy and filial therapy as procedures for understanding and assisting children in their process of growth. He is Regents Professor in the Department of Counseling, Development, and Higher Education at the University of North Texas and is founder and director of the Center for Play Therapy, the largest play therapy training program in the world. Garry's more than 100 publications include Play Therapy: Dynamics of the Process of Counseling with Children (Landreth, 1982); the award winning Play Therapy: The Art of the Relationship (Landreth, 1991), which has been translated into several languages); and the recently released Innovations in Play Therapy: Issues, Process, and Special Populations (Landreth, 2001). He has worked extensively with children and parents in therapy relationships and has conducted workshops on play therapy and filial therapy throughout the United States and in Canada, China, Europe, South Africa, and South Korea. Garry Landreth has contributed significantly to counseling and counselor education and has few, if any, peers regarding contributions made in the area of play therapy and filial therapy education and training. The exponential growth of play therapy and filial therapy in contemporary practice is in no small part a result of Garry's work as a counselor educator. Richard Watts (RW): Thank you, Garry, for taking time out of your busy schedule to do this interview. To begin, why don't you provide a description or definition of filial therapy? Garry Landreth (GL): Richard, filial therapy is a unique approach used by counseling professionals trained in play therapy to train parents to be therapeutic agents with their own children through a format of didactic instruction, demonstration play sessions, required at-home laboratory play sessions, and supervision. Parents are taught basic child-centered play therapy skills including responsive listening; recognizing children's emotional needs; therapeutic limit setting; building children's self-esteem; and structured, required weekly play sessions with their children using a special kit of selected toys. Parents learn how to create a nonjudgmental, understanding, and accepting environment, which enhances the parent-child relationship, thus facilitating personal growth and change for the child and parent. RW: Garry, in your book Play Therapy: The Art of the Relationship (Landreth, 1991), you define play therapy as a dynamic interpersonal relationship between a child and a therapist trained in play therapy procedures who provides selected play materials and facilitates the development of a safe relationship for the child to fully express and explore self (feelings, thoughts, experiences, and behaviors) through the child's natural medium of communication, play. (p. 14) What is significant about this definition of play therapy as it applies to filial therapy? GL: Richard, I think the most significant part of that definition is that the trainer or facilitator must be trained in play therapy skills; and that's often overlooked. A lot of people think, "Oh, I'll just go get a course in it, or take a play therapy or filial therapy workshop. …