Ariana SeidmanColette SearlsHONR 30012 April 2015Puppets and TherapyProfessors Rihard Carter and Perry !ason refleted" #Puppets are a $ey that an open the door to the inner %orld of hildhood&'(hen dealin) %ith emotionally unsta*le hildren" puppetry has *oth dia)nosti and therapeuti uses& +ts *enefits ha,e *een ,astlydemonstrated o,er se,eral studies&Puppets are effeti,e in therapy for se,eral reasons and are helpful in treatin) many hildhood psyholo)ial issues&This paper %ill outline the *enefits of puppetry in therapy" disuss se,eral studies" and list %hat types of puppets are fre-uently used&Puppets allo% a pro.etion of emotion and onflit onto a harater and help the hild feel safer in therapy sessions&They depersonali/e omple0 feelin)s" ma$in) them easier to tal$ a*out&Puppets hold a hild1s interest and an also #o,erome a hild1s resistane to treatment'&Children are li$ely to feel unomforta*le ha,in) a on,ersation %ith their therapist and often la$ the ommuniation s$ills to do so&Ho%e,er" *y reatin) haraters %ith the therapist and atin) throu)h different issues" the hild an reati,ely %or$ throu)h his or her pro*lems 2Carter and !ason3&+n Rihard Carter and Perry !ason1s" #The Seletion and 4se of Puppets in Counselin)"' the authors -uote that 5e%el 216763 reommends the use of puppets for the follo%in) appliations8 de,elopin) lan)ua)e and ommuniation s$ills" o,eromin) emotional and physial isolation" *uildin) self9esteem" enoura)in) emotional release" Seidman 1ma$in) deisions" and e,en physial therapy&5e%el also enoura)es the reader:therapist to remem*er that reati,ity and fle0i*ility are important %hen usin) puppets&Carter 2167;3 disussed the appliation of puppets in therapy %ith a *oy %ho %itnessed the murder of his father&Aordin) to Carter" #the *oy *eame a))ressi,e" fre-uently hit other hildren and teahers" used profanity" and destroyed property'&