Virginia m axline biography

Psychologist, pioneer of play therapy (1911–1988)

Virginia Mae Axline (March 31, 1911 – March 21, 1988) was an American psychologist and one of the pioneers in the use of play therapy.

She wrote the book Dibs in Search of Self. She was also the author of Play Therapy, published in 1947.^[1][2][3]

Play therapy practice is still largely based on Axline's work.

In the 1940s, she began to develop nondirective play therapy, the principles of which were based on Carl Rogers' newly emerging person-centered approach. In her first published work, she establishes the eight basic principles of nondirective play therapy.^[4][5]

Axline developed her own approach to child counseling which is grounded in the person-centered principles Rogers used when working with adult patients.

Axline's approach came to be known as Nondirective Play Therapy, which laid the foundation for another type of play therapy known as Child-Center