Recovering through playing — Contemporary psychodynamic psychotherapy for children suffering from complex trauma

Children suffering from complex trauma are often referred for psychotherapeutic treatment. This paper aims to acknowledge the relevance of concepts and insights of traditional psychodynamic child psychotherapy in informing contemporary treatment approaches. To this end, a three-track contemporary psychodynamic treatment model for traumatized children is traced back to its historical origins, with discussion of the relevance of particular concepts in the classical writings of Anna Freud, Donald Winnicott, and Melanie Klein to a contemporary treatment approach tailored to the developmental needs of traumatized children. The integration of these concepts with more contemporary insights stemming from mentalization-based and trauma-informed perspectives culminates in the acknowledgement of the centrality of (pretend) play in these children's recovery from the developmental sequelae of complex trauma.