Play and the Small House

Play has long been recognized by psychoanalysts as a special activity important to the emotional growth of the child, as a factor in the psychotherapy of both adults and children, and as a unique state of consciousness akin to but not identical to daydreaming, free associating, and creativity of all sorts (Neubauer, Arlow, and Solnit, 1987).1

In recent years, the value and importance of “normal” play has been confirmed by Erma Brenner. She developed a program of creative play she called “The Small House,” which was originally designed for emotionally disturbed children in a psychiatric day hospital (Brenner, 1995). The Small House is an area where children and adults can play together in a spontaneous and interactive manner without interruption or interpretation. Wherever a Small House has been set up—whether in a psychiatric hospital for emotionally disturbed children or in a public school for normal children—the incidence of other means of disciplinary or therapeutic intervention (removal to a seclusion room or referral to a school psychologist) has dramatically decreased, in some cases to zero. Although the Small House is not a psychoanalytic treatment, since the adult playmates participate without interpretations, nevertheless, the Small House is a domicile built upon psychoanalytic principles. Therefore the Journal of Clinical Psychoanalysis and the New York Psychoanalytic Institute believe that a psychoanalytic essay contest on the subject of play is a fitting tribute to Erma Brenner for her invaluable contribution.