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An Historical Biography of Virginia Axline

Virginia Axline developed a new field of child psychotherapy by applying a nondirective approach to the burgeoning experimentation of utilizing play in therapeutic work with children. While much biographical information is available regarding other leaders in the fields of counseling and psychology, historical research into Axline and her development of child-centered play therapy represent a gap in the literature. The purpose of the current study was to: 1) examine the professional contributions of Virginia Axline; 2) gather personal information regarding Axline that contributes to deeper understanding of her theory; and 3) identify life circumstances or events that influenced Axline's professional contributions. Historical methodology was utilized to locate and examine artifacts and materials necessary to create an interpretive biography of Axline's life and work, with a focus on her professional influences, experiences, and contributions. Historical methods utilized include historiography, oral history, and interpretive biography, with an emphasis on established and accepted source criticism and data synthesis processes. The research yielded a number of historically significant and previously unknown documents valuable to the field of CCPT including personal correspondence, academic writings, and interviews, as well as academic and government records. The research also established new information about and understandings of several of Axline's professional relationships. The research also calls into question the original authorship of scholarly contributions in the field of counseling for which Axline may have deserved, but not received credit. Included in the biography is information related to Axline's early life, higher education, career timeline, professional development, mentoring relationships, research interests, student perceptions, collegial relationships, personal hardships, professional interests and advocacy, teaching and learning methods, and her decline in later life.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc1703343
Date05 1900
CreatorsTurley Stich, Erin
ContributorsRay, Dee C, Jones, Leslie, Lindo, Natalya
PublisherUniversity of North Texas
Source SetsUniversity of North Texas
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis or Dissertation
Formatvii, 154 pages, Text
RightsPublic, Turley Stich, Erin, Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights Reserved.

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