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.

Low-income male preschoolers with externalizing behaviors are known to have continued behavior issues throughout elementary school, middle school, high school, and into adulthood (Brennan, Shaw, Dishion, & Wilson, 2012). Not only do they experience problems, but also their behavior creates stress for their teachers (Friedman-Krauss, Raver, Neuspiel, & Kinsel, 2014). It is important to identify children with demanding externalizing behaviors and to provide interventions that support their development. In this study, a single subject reversal design was used to examine the effects of child-centered play therapy (CCPT) on the externalizing behaviors of 5 low-income male preschoolers during group instructional time who scored the highest on the Externalizing Subscale of the Child Behavior Checklist/Caregiver-Teacher Report Form for Ages 1½-5 (C-TRF 1. 5-5;Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001). These 5 children were observed and assessed twice a week on the Externalizing Subscale of the C-TRF by 2 blind observers. The child with the highest score on the C-TRF 1.5-5 (Student A) completed the reversal design, which included 21 30-min play therapy sessions. The results of this study showed a functional relation between CCPT and externalizing behaviors with this child. The study also indicated that as this child began the intervention and his externalizing behaviors decreased, the other 4 male students' externalizing behaviors decreased as well.