A culture of one: case study of play therapy with an abused child

This article presents a case study of play therapy with an emotionally disturbed abused child. The article discusses the intuitive and individualized approach to the world of the abused child (conceptualized as a "cultured of one") in which the nurse therapist's role is to develop a trusting relationship with the child. Distance between the nurse's world and that of the abused child can be bridged by learning the child's symbolic language through play and by sharing and enlarging the child's symbolic vocabulary.