Working in schools characterized by poverty and low student achievement can be stressful for the teachers and can lead to teacher emotional exhaustion and burnout. These teachers often report a lack of training on effective ways to support the emotional needs of children. This study reports the findings of the first year of a 3-year program evaluation that examined the impact of child–teacher relationship training (CTRT) on teachers’ stress, perception of children, social justice attitudes, and ability to demonstrate the CTRT skills in the classroom at a school identified as 1 of 3 schools in the state to institute a trauma-informed program. This phenomenological pilot study explored the experiences of 4 kindergarten teachers who participated in child–teacher relationship training. The teachers worked in a school identified to participate in a statewide resilience project because of the high percentage of children in the school who lived in poverty. The qualitative analysis identified 5 themes regarding their experience: training, skills, developing relationships, obstacles/challenges, and commitment. Limitations, directions for future research, and implications for school-based play therapists and school counselors are discussed.

Teachers often report a lack of training on effective ways to support the emotional needs of children. Working in schools where students experience poverty and/or low student achievement can be stressful for teachers. This study examined the impact of child–teacher relationship training (CTRT) on teachers’ professional quality of life, social justice attitudes, attitudes aligned with the values of CTRT, attitudes about trauma-informed care, and the ability to demonstrate the CTRT skills in the classroom. The results indicate that the intervention had an impact on teachers’ attitudes about trauma-informed care, attitudes aligned with the values of CTRT, and ability to demonstrate the CTRT skills in their classrooms. Limitations, directions for future research, and implications for school-based play therapists and school counselors are discussed.

Marginalized children are often excluded from mainstream social, economic, cultural, and political life because of ethnicity or poverty. These children are more likely to have behavior problems that place them at risk later in life. The impact is evident at an early age. The purpose of this article was to review the literature that examined the impact of child-centered play therapy (CCPT) conducted with marginalized children. The literature was reviewed with regard to the results of the studies, the outcome variables used, the identification of who completed the assessments about the children, and the ethnicity of the play therapists who conducted the interventions. The findings demonstrated that CCPT is effective for marginalized children, externalized behaviors are most frequently assessed, teachers most frequently completed the assessments about the children, and the ethnicity of the play therapists is not usually reported. The results are considered in terms of implications for play therapists and future research.

Teachers often report a lack of training on effective ways to support the emotional needs of children. Working in schools where students experience poverty, as well as low student achievement, can be stressful for teachers. This study examined the impact of childteacher relationship training (CTRT) on teachers' professional quality of life, attitudes aligned with the values of CTRT, attitudes about trauma-informed care, and the ability to demonstrate the CTRT skills in the classroom. This third and final year of the project focused solely on teachers' classroom training and behaviors, completely omitting the playroom as a training tool. The results indicate that the intervention had a significant impact on teachers' child-centered knowledge and skills aligned with the training, as well as their ability to demonstrate the CTRT skills in classrooms. Limitations, directions for future research, and implications for school-based play therapists, school counselors, and counselor educators are discussed.

Professional development programs and interventions that focus on helping teachers work sensitively with culturally diverse students can help raise teachers' awareness about school climate, academic environment, and cultural values. In-depth analysis of all data collected through semistructured interviews revealed Child Teacher Relationship Training (CTRT) contributed to raising teachers' cultural awareness. The main findings include diversity, personal values, cultural awareness, impact of the training, and attuned relationships. Limitations, future research, and implications of the findings are discussed.