Play is considered by several authors as the principal means used by the child to represent and communicate intrapsychic conflicts and relational difficulties, express unconscious fantasies, and elaborate and modulate anxieties related to these fantasies. Neglect and maltreatment within the early significant relationships may impair the development of the child’s symbolic capacity. Physical and sexual abuse during childhood can also provoke a temporary loss of the child’s ability for pretend play. Another consequence of maltreatment is the presence of post-traumatic themes and play activities related to a literal and compulsive repetition of traumas. This article presents the psychotherapy of a young girl who has been exposed to complex trauma before the age of 3. Firstly, the child’s life history and different foster placements are recounted. Secondly, clinical examples are used to illustrate the symbolic and post-traumatic themes and play activities showed by the child in psychotherapy. The authors distinguish post-traumatic play segments from abreactive ones, the latter representing a moderate expression of the trauma. Finally, therapeutic attitudes and techniques aimed to facilitate the child’s psychic elaboration of trauma are discussed.