POSTTRAUMATIC PLAY: THEORICAL FRAMEWORK IN ASSESSMENT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAUMA AMONG YOUNG CHILDREN
The present article seeks to shed light on a certain conceptual framework that is not yet recognized enough and that aims to help clinicians detect those children who are victims of psychological trauma: the framework is that of observing them in posttraumatic play. Other theoretical constructs (complex trauma, PTSD) are already available to identify posttraumatic symptoms or their after effects. However, it is by direct observation of the child at play that we can truly understand the child’s subjective experience of what may have been exposure to potentially traumatic events. It has in fact been determined that children who have experienced trauma play differently than their peers who have not. Posttraumatic play is a kind of ‘code’ used by the child, a way to communicate and possibly ask for assistance that is well adapted to his/her developmental level. This article proposes to document these clinical signs from the scientific literature.