This website takes you to an article at the ERIC Digest titled "Play Therapy".  In this article you will find information regarding the rational for play therapy and the importance of this type of therapy.  The author also explains the process of play therapy and how children are able to "play out their feelings" making it easier for the counselor to understand the child.  In the article  you will also f ind information about some of the toys and materials necessary in a play therapy session and their effectiveness.  This is an excellent research article providing much information on this very important topic.

www.eplaytherapy.com

This website takes you to an informative brochure on play therapy.  The brochure answers the question "what is play therapy".  It is an excellent brochure for families who have questions regarding play therapy. The brochure has many other links to help parents with the concept of play therapy. The nice thing about this brochure is that parents can view the brochure on the internet or they are able to print these informative pages. The counselor can also order these brochures to keep in the office as they are not very expensive. As a counselor this would be an excellent website to recommend to parents as it contains much information about play therapy from technique to equipment. Through this website parents can get a better of understanding on the concept of play therapy.

This is the family enhancement and play therapy ideas page.  This website is full of information on play therapy.  The website has many useful ideas and articles for the play therapist.   There is a section in this site that talks about how play counseling can be used in a school setting. In this website you can get all of the necessary tools and many useful ideas. You will also finds links to many other rsurces for the counselor as well as the parent.  As a counselor I would use this as a reference page for ideas and information, I would also recommend this page the parents of the children I am counseling so that they may have a better understanding of play therapy as a whole.

When does a child need therapy?  This is the question that is answered  in this website.  In this site you will find a whole list of situations that may indicate that a child may need play therapy, these include but are not limited to low self-esteem, excessive anger, worry, sadness, and fear just to name a few.  You will also find a clear explanation of play therapy and its usefullness in counseling children.  Another interesting thing about this website is that it contains a story where it shows how a counseling was able to use play therapy to counsel a child who was fighting in the lunchroom and failing her subjects.  As you read the story you are able to get a better understanding of play therapy and its effectiveness.  You will also find many useful links such as workshops, resources for therapists, and resources for parents. I would recommend this site to parents as well as to fellow counselor as a resource page with many ideas

www.phoenix5.org/humor/HumorTherapyACS.html

Can vegetarians eat animal crackers?
                                                    -George Carlin

This website is on humor therapy, I chose this website because I think that laughter is an effective way of making people feel better.  This website explains how humor can be used in counseling people with "emotional as well as physical pain".  The site offers an excellent description of what humor therapy is and how it can be applied to help individuals lives.  In this website you will also find links to many jokes, cartoons, and stories using humor.  You will also find articles relating to humor therapy and a wonderful story about how humor therapy helped a man who was diagnosed as terminally ill. As a counselor I would keep this website as a reference to remind me of the power of laughter.

www.ncata.com/poetry.html

According to this website poetry therapy and bibiliotherapy are terms that are used synonimously.  These two forms of therapy use the printed word in order aide in the counseling process.  This website outlines the goals of poetry therapy as well as the four stages in the interactive process of poetry therapy.  This would be an excellent website for those who are not sure what poetry therapy is and the process.  There are also links to many other forms of therapy which include art therapy, music therapy, dance therapy, just to name a few.  I like this website because it offers a lot of useful information for the therapist and for the parent as well.

www.artslynx.org/heal/dance.htm

Dance is the hidden language of the soul. - Martha Graham 

This is an excellent website for anyone who is interested in learning more about dance as a way of healing.  In this website you can get a very thorough explanation of dance therapy as well as some of the techniques and procedures used in this form of therapy.  This site offers many uses for dance therapy, from working with people with disabilities to healing the mind and spirit.  There is an abundance of information in this website offering links to many, many resources pertaining to dance therapy.  As a counselor I would recommend this site to other counselors as well as parents who are interested in this form of therapy for their children.

This is the website for the American Art Therapy Association. This website provides a definition of art therapy,  according to this site, "Art therapy is based on the belief that the creative process involved in the making of art is healing and life-enhancing".  You will find a section in this site with frequently asked question, which answers many questions about art therapy and the process.  It also includes many resources for the art therapist as well as information on becoming a member of the AATA.  I thought this was a very good website with a lot of useful information.  This website would be more appropriate for the counselor interested in becoming an art therapist.  It would be an excellent addition to the counselors resource library.

Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.)

"Simply put, music can heal people."
http://members.aol.com/kathysl/

This is the music therapy info link, this is an excellent resource for those looking to learn more about music therapy.
This website provides a definition of music therapy as well as the key elements of this form of therapy.  According to the author, "Music therapy is the prescribed use of music and musical interventions in order to restore, maintain, and improve emotional, physical, physiological, and spiritual health and well-being".  There is a section with commonly asked questions, with many answers associated with music therapy such as What types of people would benefit from music therapy?  You can also find the type of education and training required in order to become a music therapist, there is a message board where counselors can communicate with each other, and job opportunities for the music therapist.  I really like this web site because it has a wealth of information for the counselor looking to learn more about music therapy.  I would recommend the site to other professional in the field and will be keeping this site as a valuable resource.

This website pertains to guided imagery, according to this site guided imagery is "An active, meditative process for self-healing, relaxation, and self awareness.  Through this website the counselor is able to get many of the necessary  needed in order to conduct an effective guided imagery session.  This site includes the how to's and don't do's when using guided imagery, ascending and descending images, processing the imagery, as well as guided imagery exercises by theme.  I really like this website because it offers a wealth of practical information for the counselor who wants to use guided imagery as part of their counseling sessions.