Impact of child-centered play therapy on the self-esteem, locus of control, and anxiety of at-risk 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students.

Addresses the impact of child-centered play therapy on the self-esteem, locus of control, and anxiety level of at-risk 4th, 5th, and 6th grade children. The two groups of students, those who participated in play therapy and those who did not participate in play therapy, were administered the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory, Intellectual Achievement Responsibility Scale—Revised, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children. While the results indicate that children participating in play therapy did not change, the students not participating in play therapy demonstrated a decrease in both self-esteem and locus of control over the course of the school year. These findings indicate that an intervention, such as play therapy, may be needed to prevent at-risk children from developing lower self esteem and from reducing their sense of responsibility for their academic successes and failures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Music in play therapy: Playing my feelings.

Through free and creative exploration of music and music activities, emotionally conflicted and confused children can be encouraged to express their emotions. The purpose of this article is to briefly review nondirective play therapy and music play therapy and to describe how these could be combined in actual practice. The two case examples further illustrate and encourage other play therapists to incorporate music and music activities into the playroom. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction.

This introduction discusses how play therapy is used by professionals who work with abused children, as well as adolescents and adults. The final article in the current issue describes how to modify traditional, Eurocentric play therapy to better meet the needs of children from other cultural backgrounds, to ensure that their symbols, actions, and languages are accurately heard and accepted. Also included is a poem written by a former student of a member of the editorial board of the current issue, which seems fitting for the topics discussed in the current issue. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Play therapy in Hong Kong: Opportunities and challenges.

Play therapy is a well-established therapeutic approach for working with children and families in the West. This article describes the current situation of play therapy in Hong Kong—a cosmopolitan city where East meets West. The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats confronting the development of play therapy as an extension of core graduate-level mental health training are analyzed. Through this process, a number of strategic issues central to the growth and development of professionalism in play therapy are identified and discussed. A path for the future development of play therapy for mental health professionals in Hong Kong over the next decade is presented. Possibilities for collaboration in research and practice among play therapists from all over the world are also suggested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pretend play and social play: The concurrent validity of the Child-Initiated Pretend Play Assessment.

In play therapy, assessment is more often of children’s behavioral or social issues than children’s play ability. However, understanding children’s play ability by using a reliable and valid play assessment can add to a therapist’s understanding of the child. The aim of this study was to investigate how a child’s performance on a play assessment was related to social peer play. Children’s pretend play was assessed using the Child-Initiated Pretend Play Assessment. Social peer play was assessed by preschool teachers completing the Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale. Fifty-three typically developing preschool children were assessed. A significant positive correlation was found between the level of a child’s elaborateness of play scores and peer play interaction. A significant negative relationship was found between a child’s ability to substitute objects and play disruption. A significant negative relationship was also found between a child’s ability to elaborate play and substitute objects with play disconnection. The results suggest that children’s social competence can be inferred from their play scores on the Child-Initiated Pretend Play Assessment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counseling children with preverbal trauma.

This article is written to argue, based upon analytical premises, that play therapy holds promise as a means of addressing preverbal trauma. Gaensbauer (2002) indicated that the capacity to encode and retain meaningful internal representations of the salient pieces of a traumatic event may be available to children as early as 6 months of age. Play therapy encourages children to symbolically express their feelings through play and create a coherent trauma narrative as a means of gaining mastery over difficult and often disturbing thoughts and feelings. This article's purpose is to educate play therapists about the complexities of preverbal trauma and promising treatment interventions that can be used in play therapy with this population. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Structured play therapy: A model for choosing topics and activities.

This article presents a model to be used for structured play therapy for use with adolescents and children ages 7 yrs and older. Structured play therapy is a form of play therapy that is directive and uses planned, structured activities in almost every session. This model was developed to provide a framework for appropriate timing and sequence of structured activities. This article describes structured play therapy and how it differs from nondirective play, presents a structured play therapy model, presents specific guidelines for choosing appropriate structured activities and exercises, and presents a case study demonstrating application of the model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A paradigm for working with child survivors of sexual abuse who exhibit sexualized behaviors during play therapy.

Discusses how play therapists cope with sexually abused children who display sexual behaviors during play therapy. The author briefly reviews the literature regarding how to handle this problem. Three types of sexualized play observed during play therapy are described: abuse reactive play, re-enactment, and symbolic sexualized play. The author discusses possible therapist reactions to, and useful therapeutic interventions for, each type of play described, including limit-setting, witnessing/active listening, and active participation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Integrating play and family therapy methods: A survey of play therapists' attitudes in the field.

The researchers surveyed 295 members of the Association for Play Therapy on their attitudes related to working with families when treating children. The results indicated the majority of play therapists held attitudes conducive to involving families in their approaches with children. However, mixed findings were found in specific areas related to the implementation of play therapy with families, suggesting barriers may exist. These mixed findings included a decreased percentage of play therapists that felt like play therapy was effective in family therapy when compared with the high level who felt that play and family therapy approaches could be integrated. Moreover, the respondents were divided on issues such as parents' willingness to be involved in therapy with their children and if parents were actually resistant to being included in sessions with their children. These mixed findings suggest that a wide range of attitudes and experiences about parental involvement exist among play therapists in the field. The authors raise key questions for the play therapy field to consider in more depth and suggest improvements that may be needed in play therapy education to increase the efficacy of play therapists' skills in working with families. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cuento therapy: A culturally sensitive modality for Puerto Rican children.

Epidemiological studies indicate that Hispanics underutilize community mental health facilities in proportion to their needs and often fail to benefit from traditional psychotherapeutic services. The present study investigated the effectiveness of a modeling therapy designed to be sensitive to Hispanic culture. In one version of the modality, cuentos (folktales) from Puerto Rican culture were used to present models of adaptive behavior and in another version folktales were tailored to bridge Puerto Ricans' bicultural conflict. 210 high-risk children from kindergarten through the 3rd grade and their mothers were randomly assigned to receive either cuento therapy, traditional art/play therapy, or no therapy. Results indicate that cuento therapy significantly reduced children's trait anxiety, as measured by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children, relative to traditional therapy and to no intervention and that this trend was stable over 1 yr. The cuento modalities also increased Wechsler Intelligence Scale For Children—Revised (WISC—R) Comprehension subtest scores and decreased observer-rated aggression. The need to develop and evaluate culturally sensitive therapeutic modalities for Hispanics is discussed. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

My visit with Christiana Morgan.

This brief memoir reports a freighted conversation between the author and Christiana Morgan—Henry A. Murray's longtime mystical companion—in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1961. The principal topic was her idea, called the creative paranoid hypothesis, that people who have special pressures (such as the truly gifted, or the Jewish people as a whole) are more apt to make meaningful artistic or intellectual contributions. She was troubled by the burden of having to hold onto her belief in her own unrecognized potential greatness and wanted to explore how it might tie to Jewishness, of which the author was a convenient living example. Over and above the content of the talk, what was most memorable were the illuminating insights into the special relationship between Murray and Morgan, specifically how an extraordinary woman can influence a great man and subtly change the course of intellectual history. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

1993: Axline's eight principles of play therapy revisited.

Examined V. Axlines's book, Play Therapy (1947) which includes 8 basic principles on non-directive play therapy. Student responses to learning these principles in play therapy classes were also examined. Each student was assigned a play therapy client and was observed and assisted directly by the instructor, a licensed clinical psychologist. Clients were mildly trouble children (aged 5–10 yrs) and were selected from a referral base by the instructor as appropriate for the course. As the semester progressed and students gained direct experience, weekly small (3–4 student) group discussions were held to explore in-depth understanding of play therapy principles and how these principles are put into practice. It is concluded that Axline's book remains a classic text and a foremost resource in the field. Coupling it with experiential learning is an invaluable basis for teaching play therapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The future of play therapy: Elevating credibility through play therapy research.

Elevating credibility in play therapy through research has been a difficult task. This difficulty is represented well in the Myth of Sisyphus (wherein Sisyphus is cursed with the mandate of rolling a large boulder up a hill, only to have it roll back down every time he approaches the top of the hill). Play therapy, in some form, has been in mental health clinics, clinician’s offices, and in journals for more than a century—yet empirical research on play therapy has consistently lagged behind practice. Also, we have several decades of research supporting the use of play therapy in addressing many common childhood problems, yet there is little recognition of play therapy as an “empirically supported treatment.” To stretch the Myth of Sisyphus just a bit, if we are to see the effort to develop empirical support for play therapy as our task, we need to look carefully at who is pushing the boulder, what strategies are being used to get the boulder up the hill, and how we will we know when we’ve reached the top of the hill. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Infant–mother attachment and children's friendship quality: Maternal mental-state talk as an intervening mechanism.

Utilizing data from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, we investigated mothers' talk about mental states during play with their 24-month-old children as a mechanism though which infant–mother attachment was associated with children's later friendship quality. A series of repeated measures analyses of covariance indicated that a secure versus avoidant or disorganized infant–mother attachment was associated with more maternal talk about cognitions (but not emotions or desires) at 24 months. Latent growth curve models tested within a structural equation modeling framework revealed indirect effects of infant–mother attachment on observed and mother-reported positive friendship interaction at 54 months and decreases in mother-reported negative friendship interaction from 54 months to 1st grade via maternal cognitive talk at 24 months. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Filial therapy: An intervention for parents of children with chronic illness.

Describes the use of filial therapy as an intervention with families of chronically ill children. Filial therapy is an extension of play therapy which uses the behaviors of the client-centered play therapist in a family skills training program. Ss were 5 29–36 yr old mothers of 4.5–8.0 yr old children with chronic illnesses. Parents completed the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory and Parental Acceptance Scale (B. R. Porter, 1952) before and after participating in filial therapy sessions. Children completed the Child Anxiety Scale. Results show that filial therapy can have a positive impact on parents of children with chronic illness. Parents were better able to accurately judge their child's level of anxiety and reported differentiation between themselves and their children. Qualitative reports of outcomes indicate that the parents believed that the course had a positive impact on their relationships with their children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The efficacy of intensive individual play therapy for chronically ill children.

Examined the effectiveness of play therapy for children (aged 7-11 yrs) diagnosed with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). Specifically, the intent of the study was to determine the effectiveness of an intensive play therapy intervention in (a) reducing symptoms of anxiety in children with IDDM, (b) reducing the overall behavior difficulties in children with IDDM, (c) increasing healthy adjustment in children with IDDM, (d) increasing diabetic's children's adherence to their diabetic regime, and (e) having an impact on these emotional and behavioral symptoms over time. The experimental group comprised 9 boys and 6 girls. Analysis of covariance revealed that the children in the experimental group significantly improved their adaptation to their diabetes following intensive play therapy. Results indicate that intensive play therapy may be an effective intervention for children diagnosed with IDDM. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intensive group play therapy with child witnesses of domestic violence.

Describes the effectiveness of intensive sibling group play therapy with child witnesses of domestic violence in improving self-concept, reducing internalizing and externalizing behavior problems, and reducing overall behavior problems. A second objective of this study was to compare the effectiveness of intensive sibling group play therapy and intensive individual play therapy on the dimensions identified above. 10 children (aged 4–9 yrs) participated in the experimental group and 11 children (aged 4–10 yrs) served as controls. An analysis of covariance revealed children in the experimental group exhibited a significant reduction in total behavior problems, externalizing and internalizing behavior problems, aggression, anxiety, and depression, and a significant improvement in self- esteem. Intensive sibling group play therapy was found equally effective as intensive individual play therapy with child witnesses of domestic violence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

High school students as therapeutic agents with young children experiencing school adjustment difficulties: The effectiveness of a filial therapy training model.

Filial therapy has been used since the early 1960s to train parents as therapeutic agents for children experiencing a broad range of social, emotional and behavioral difficulties. Using a pretest-posttest control group design, this study examined the efficacy of a filial therapy model in training high school students to be effective helpers with young children experiencing school adjustment difficulties. 32 high school students enrolled in a Peer Assistance and Leadership course titled PALs were trained to become therapeutic change agents for identified prekindergarten and kindergarten students. The PALs students received training and supervision in child-centered play therapy skills that they practiced in weekly play sessions with their assigned child. Results from the statistical analyses reveal that the experimental group of high school students receiving filial therapy training demonstrated a significant increase in their empathic interactions with children and that the experimental group of children receiving the play therapy intervention experienced a significant reduction in problem behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The acquisition of gender labels in infancy: Implications for gender-typed play.

Two aspects of children’s early gender development—the spontaneous production of gender labels and gender-typed play—were examined longitudinally in a sample of 82 children. Survival analysis, a statistical technique well suited to questions involving developmental transitions, was used to investigate the timing of the onset of children’s gender labeling as based on mothers’ biweekly telephone interviews regarding their children’s language from 9 through 21 months. Videotapes of children’s play both alone and with mother during home visits at 17 and 21 months were independently analyzed for play with gender-stereotyped and gender-neutral toys. Finally, the relation between gender labeling and gender-typed play was examined. Children transitioned to using gender labels at approximately 19 months, on average. Although girls and boys showed similar patterns in the development of gender labeling, girls began labeling significantly earlier than boys. Modest sex differences in play were present at 17 months and increased at 21 months. Gender labeling predicted increases in gender-typed play, suggesting that knowledge of gender categories might influence gender typing before the age of 2. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)