Aggressive behaviors in childhood currently serve as the leading cause of counselor referrals within the United States. Children exhibiting maladaptive aggressive symptomology are at an increased risk for highly externalized and problematic behaviors across the lifespan. Emotional self-regulation and empathy are two constructs currently believed to be closely related to aggression, but a lack of research exploring these variables currently exists in the counseling literature. In this study I examined the effect of child-centered play therapy (CCPT), is a manualized, developmentally responsive, and nondirective intervention, on these variables. Participants were 71 students from four Title 1 elementary schools in the southwest U.S. referred by teachers for aggressive behavior (12 females, 59 males; age range 5-10 years with mean age 6.28. The sample consisted of 52.1% (n = 37) children identified as African American, 21.1% (n = 15) as Latina/Latino, 19.7% (n = 14) as Caucasian, and 7% as multiracial (n = 5). Participants were randomly assigned to 8 weeks of a twice-weekly CCPT experimental group (n = 36) or a waitlist control group (n = 35). Results of descriptive discriminant analyses (DDA) of the Social Emotional Assets and Resilience Scale and the Children’s Aggression Scale scores revealed that parents perceived children’s group membership in CCPT as significant and reasonably predictive of improvement in children’s aggression, self-regulation, and empathy. However, teachers did not perceive a statistically significant difference between the two groups with respect to these variables. These results suggest the relevancy of CCPT for parents in providing children with a developmentally responsive intervention to reduce aggressive behaviors and support their healthy development.

This study utilized ethnomethodology to provide a description of the process and the effect of training counselors to incorporate the concepts and techniques of Individual Psychology into play therapy. Transcripts of the training program and of three individual interviews with the nine counselors who participated in the training were made. These transcripts and the journals in which the subjects were asked to chronicle their personal experiences and reactions to the training were qualitatively analyzed. This analysis indicated that most of the subjects reported that their attitudes toward play therapy, toward themselves as play therapists, and toward their play therapy clients had changed after their participation in the Adlerian play therapy training. The majority of subjects also reported that they perceived that their behavior in their play therapy sessions had changed, frequently in the direction of including more creative and active techniques. Qualitative analysis of the transcripts made from videotaped play therapy sessions by the researcher and an outside evaluator indicated that, while some of the counselors' behaviors seemed to have changed after the training, many of the counselors' behaviors did not appear to have been affected by their participation in the training. Possible explanations of the discrepancy between the counselors' perceptions of their behavior and the researcher's and outside evaluator's perceptions of the counselors' behaviors were discussed. Other areas considered as worthy of in-depth examination were: (a) possible influences on the changes in the counselors' attitudes toward play therapy, toward themselves as play therapists, and toward their play therapy clients; (b) several factors involved in training counselor education students; (c) elements which may have affected the counselors' receptivity to learning a new method of conducting play therapy; (d) implications for the future adaptation of the Adlerian play therapy training program; and (f) potential avenues for future research.

A randomized controlled trial study was conducted to test the effectiveness of 16 sessions of the modalities of individual and group child-centered play therapy (CCPT) on improving social-emotional assets, including self-regulation/responsibility, social competence, and empathy. Participants were 56 students in four urban elementary schools in north central Texas, referred by teachers for disruptive or problematic behavior: 10 female and 46 male; ages 5 to 10 years with mean age 7.12; and 21 identifying as Hispanic, 17 as White, 8 as Multiracial, 1 as Asian, and 9 unspecified. Teachers and parents completed the Social and Emotional Assets and Resilience Scale (SEARS; Merrill, 2011) at pre- and post-treatment. With a significance criterion of p< .05, teacher reports provided no statistically significant results. However, parent reports indicated a statistically and practically significant interaction effect with a medium to large effect size, indicating a substantial improvement in children's scores from pre- to post-test attributed to group assignment. Mean differences indicated substantial gains in overall social-emotional assets, according to Total scores, in both individual and group treatment conditions as compared to the waitlist control group. Additionally, both individual and group play therapy was correlated with significant improvement with a large effect for the constructs of self-regulation/responsibility and social competence, with the group condition having a larger effect than the individual condition. Regarding empathy, neither modality resulted in significant improvement, though individual CCPT resulted practically in a large effect. These results indicate CCPT may provide a developmentally appropriate treatment for clinicians working with children in schools and in the community to foster their social and emotional competencies.

Published Article / Various, multidisciplinary approaches can be used for the treatment of children with learning disabilities (LD). A multidisciplinary approach can include play therapy, remedial therapy, physiotherapy as well as a stimulant medication. The aim of this study was to determine whether there is a difference between children with LD and children without LD in terms of differential-sensitivity. Twenty children that have been diagnosed with LD and twenty children without LD participated in and completed a range of actions such as interacting with a number of objects of different colours, sound stimuli, smell stimuli and a two-touch stimulus. The study found that children with LD have more difficulty in identifying their senses and its functions than children without LD. It could thus be possible that if sensory stimulants were integrated into play therapy mediums, that the unidentified child with LD could be identified earlier in that child's life.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study was aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of a play therapy training programme for youth facilitators of a returned exile children's group. The effectiveness was evaluated qualitatively by using participant observation to determine whether the facilitators were able to assess the difficulties of these children and implement the techniques of play therapy to address these difficulties. Literature was used as a general guideline to determine the criteria needed for lay play therapists dealing with specifically traumatized children. It was found that most facilitators experienced difficulty in assessing aggression, withdrawal, nightmares excessive shyness and thumb sucking as symptoms of difficult behaviour. They were, however, able to recognize more explicit symptoms like fearful behaviour and excessive clinging behaviour accurately. The majority used drawings and observations rather than interviews and history taking as assessment strategies. Mutual storytelling, painting and unstructured play were the primary means of intervention used. It was concluded that although difficulty with assessing age appropriate behaviour was present, the facilitators succeeded in using non-threatening therapeutic techniques to address difficult behaviours in children. In the classification of Overall Communication the facilitators performed quite well. They excelled at listening, understanding and empathy skills. The programme thus succeeded in providing necessary skills, but can be improved structurally to make these skills more accessible. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie studie was om die doeltreffendheid van 'n opleidingsprogram in spelterapie vir jeugdiges as fasiliteerdes van kindergroepe vir teruggekeerde bannelinge te evalueer. Deelnemende waarneming is as kwalitatiewe maatstaf gebruik om die doeltreffendheid van die program te meet. Daar word gekyk na die fasiliteerder se vermoë om die kinders se probleemareas te identifiseer en om spelterapietegnieke te implementeer wat hierdie probleme aanspreek. Verder word relevante literatuur gebruik as kriteria vir leke-spelterapeute wat werk met spesifieke getraumatiseerde kinders. Die resultate van die onderhawige studie wys dat fasiliteerders dit moeilik gevind het om simptome soos aggressie, onttrekkingsgedrag, nagmerries, uitermatige skaamheid en duimsuig te identifiseer as probleemareas. Hulle het dit wel moontlik gevind om meer voor die handliggende simptome soos vreesbevange gedrag en oormatige klouerigheid akkuraat te herken. Die meerderheid fasiliteerders het gebruik gemaak van tekeninge en waarnemings vir identifisering van probleemareas eerder as onderhoudsvoering en die insameling van agtergrondsgeskiedenis. Die spelterapietegnieke wat die meeste gebruik was, is die gesamentlike vertel van stories, verf en ongestruktureerde spel. Ten slotte is gevind dat, alhoewel die fasiliteerders gesukkel het om ouderdomsgepaste gedrag te identifiseer, hulle daarin geslaag het om nie-bedreigende terapeutiese tegnieke aan te wend om sodoende probleemgedrag aan te spreek. In die klassifikasie van Oorkoepelende Kommunikasie, het die fasiliteerders uitgeblink in veral luister- begrips- en empatievaardighede. Die program slaag dus daarin om vaardighede beskikbaar te stel, maar sou struktureel verbeter kan word om hierdie vaardighede meer toeganklik te maak.

Much effort has been expended to increase the awareness and understanding of play therapy among consumers and practitioners (Landreth, 1991) since its introduction by Virginia Axline during the 1940s. As with any form of counseling, Leblanc and Ritchie (1999) have noted there are factors considered key to successful play therapy treatment outcomes. Play therapy research shows a positive relationship between parent's involvement in play therapy and successful outcomes (LeBlanc & Ritchie, 1999; Bratton, Ray, Rhine, & Jones, 2005) but little research exists to document specific practice patterns and perceptions of play therapists in relation to achieving caregiver engagement. The purpose of this study was to identify the practice patterns of play therapists, their perceptions of the factors that influence caregiver engagement, their perceptions of the relationship between caregiver engagement and the therapeutic outcome for the child client, and their perceptions of the barriers to achieving caregiver engagement in play therapy. The Caregiver Engagement Inventory (CEI), a 36-item, structured and semi-structured questionnaire developed for this research, was electronically sent to 4854 members of the Association for Play Therapy (APT), resulting in 539 responses, 431 of which were deemed appropriate for inclusion. Of the 423 participants who responded, 292 (69%) strongly agreed and 107 (25%) agreed that caregiver engagement is related to a child’s therapeutic outcome in play therapy. Fifty-three percent (n=228) of respondents strongly agreed that they are prepared to facilitate caregiver engagement in play therapy, and 35% (n=151) agreed. These results suggested that, while 94% of play therapists who responded believe caregiver engagement is a large factor in successful play therapy outcomes, only 88% of the participants feel prepared to accomplish the task with caregivers of their child clients. The results indicated a relationship between training and play therapists’ practice patterns related to caregiver engagement, but participants reported minimal exposure to training specific to working with caregivers in both their graduate programs and workshops. Findings indicated that play therapists value caregivers’ roles in play therapy; however, barriers exist to caregiver engagement. Implications for play therapists, educators of mental health professionals, and future research are discussed. Keywords: play therapy, caregiver, engagement

This study was conducted to investigate change (as measured by positive growth changes in total personality adjustment, social maturity, and behavior patterns) in pre-school deaf children with behavioral problems who experienced short-term, nondirective play therapy. Change in behavior of these children was also investigated ten weeks after therapy.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Liberty University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 128-133). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes special report study entitled: Playtherapy & playful settings for children with autism. Includes bibliographical references.